FORAN Remote Sensing is the first of four Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) spin out companies started in the LEAD incubator on Mjärdevi.
If you visit FORAN Remote Sensing’s website at www.foranrs.se, you will may be surprised to learn not only about their new premises, but also about their location—in a very new way. Using the 3-D maps developed by FORAN Remote Sensing for Linköping Municipality, a visitor to the site will experience the latest in laser surveying, data processing, and the future of digitalized topography.
FORAN Remote Sensing is a division of FORAN Group which provides consultancy in the timber and environmental industries. They work with operational and strategic management plans. FORAN has historically worked with more traditional technology, but after FOI scientists met FORAN at a scientific conference they began to collaborate on work that led to the creation of FORAN Remote Sensing in 2007.
The new FORAN technology allows for the analysis of data collected via laser measurements taken from aircraft. “We process the “point cloud”, or the set of vertices in a three-dimensional coordinate system, and then present the results in various applications, visualizations and modeling,” says Ulf Söderman, CEO of FORAN Remote Sensing.
FORAN’s high-resolution, digitized 3-D terrain maps have drawn the attention of the Swedish Land Administration (Lantmäteriet) to create even better maps of Sweden. Unique to their technology is the ability to create finely detailed terrain models despite the fact that there might be rocks or trees in the way. The company is also creating new maps for next year’s regional O-ringen Orienteering Competition.
FORAN is the first company to offer large scale inventories of forest land. "Single Tree", as its name suggests, inventories every single tree in a forest providing cost-effective measurements while accruing additional useful data such as the height, volume, and diameter as well as species of every tree.
According to Ulf, the measurements provide a better basis for economic analysis and forecasting in the timber industry. Data on the individual trees provides an accurate description of whole population of trees. Moreover, the additional information on surface topography allows for more accurate assessments of drainage and accessibility.
Single-Tree is also used for risk analyses for power and rail lines.
“We can help identify and locate individual trees that are in proximity to these lines,” says Ulf. “And with the help of statistical prognoses we can help figure out which trees will create a risk over time.
FORAN’s 3-D modeling offers opportunities in city planning, compiling of databases of built environments, and even for testing virtual concepts like the development of wind turbine farms or the harvesting of trees.
Translated by M. Spaeth from a text by EvaMarie Törnström
