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New possibilities for virtual street tree inventories

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Urban forestry professionals can use online tools to learn a lot about a site before a field visit. For example, Google Street ViewTM (GSV) provides street-level panoramic photographs that can be used to preview a street tree that is slated for maintenance or removal so that an arborist can anticipate what equipment will be needed in the field. Using street-level imagery, a person may be able to record the tree's street address, identify its species, estimate its size, note overhead wire conflicts, and so on. If this is possible for one tree, could we reliably use online resources like GSV to conduct an inventory of street trees across an entire city?

Citation

Berland, Adam; Roman, Lara A. 2020. New possibilities for virtual street tree inventories. Arborist News.​​ February: 29(1): 22-26.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/59661