The operator is partnership the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forest Research to explore monitoring technology and trees’ role in fighting climate change.
A pilot will use IoT to monitor trees’ growth and the impacts of environmental change on the UK’s forests.
Specialist sensors have been attached to trees in two forests and using NB-IoT.
Data is collected and transmitted to Defra and Forest Research where analytics assess the impact of temperature, humidity and soil moisture on trees’ growth and function.
Storing carbon
Measuring trees’ growth is important in enabling scientists to estimate their contribution to mitigating climate change as they absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere.
The three-month trial is the first of its kind in the UK and is underway in Forestry England’s Alice Holt Forest (pictured), near Farnham in southern England, and Harwood forest, near Rothbury in north-east England.
Defra and Forest Research will use the results to inform policy makers and the public of how the changing environment impacts trees’ growth and the huge benefits that trees can provide by storing carbon.