Overview
To start a forest carbon project, you first need a trusted baseline: how many trees there are, how big they are, and how much carbon they hold today and could hold in future. For an indigenous forest in Butula, Kenya, Amilen Africa carried out that baseline survey.
A survey drone with LiDAR (laser scanning) flew over the forest and captured detailed 3D data. From it we produced a terrain model (the ground), a surface model (the tops of the trees) and a canopy height model (the difference between the two). A classified point cloud separated ground, trees and homesteads, and an attribute table recorded each tree's height, spread, surface area and volume.
Field teams then walked the forest and measured trees on the ground in a physical tree inventory. Ground measurements check and calibrate the drone data, so the carbon estimates rest on both.
The result is a set of maps, 3D models and datasets for estimating the forest's current and potential carbon storage, ready to support a carbon project, forest management and long-term monitoring. We also trained local teams on drone and LiDAR workflows.
What we did
- Drone imagery and LiDAR over the indigenous forest
- Terrain (DTM), surface (DSM) and canopy height (CHM) models
- Point clouds classified into ground, trees and homesteads
- Tree-level data: height, spread, surface area and volume
- Physical field tree inventory to check and calibrate the drone data
- Baseline for estimating current and potential carbon storage
