Researchers have released 'GreenLens', a free app that uses AI to measure the diameter of tree trunks. It works with a high degree of accuracy – yet runs on a cheap, second-hand Android phone. The GreenLens app is aimed at anyone with an interest in protecting and restoring forests, from governments and NGOs to landowners and environmental scientists. It was developed by researchers here in the Department of Computer Science and Technology, including CRI members Srinivasan Keshav and Amelia Holcomb.
The GreenLens app was originally intended for use by ecologists monitoring reforestation efforts in East Africa where high-end smartphones are unaffordable and access to the internet is patchy. (The app can function without the internet as all computing is local and all files are saved onto the device itself.) The aim was to help users gather data on reforestation so that they could assess their eligibility for carbon credits.
But enthusiasm for the app has been gathering pace since the paper ‘An app for tree trunk diameter estimation from coarse optical depth maps’ was recently published in the journal Ecological Informatics. Read the paper here.
Read the full article here:
https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/using-ai-see-wood-trees
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