Drone Discovery · Land, Life & Science Curated. Reviewed content maintained by Hamptonian — not a live feed

Forestry

Foresters use drones to count and measure trees, find disease, plan harvests and replant after wildfires.

Interactive

Example missions

Lawnmower grid

Stand inventory

A terrain-following grid keeps a constant height above the canopy.

Why this pattern? Parallel, overlapping lines let mapping software match features between photos. More overlap = better models, but more photos and flight time.

What drones do here

Forest inventory (tree counts and heights)
Detect beetle kill and disease
Map wildfire burn severity
Seed burn areas

Real-world examples

Drone reseeding in the Pacific Northwest
Mast Reforestation (formerly DroneSeed) has used heavy-lift drones to seed wildfire burn areas.
LiDAR forest inventory
LiDAR measures tree height and canopy structure across whole stands.

Drone types

Mapping multirotors
Heavy-lift seeding drones
LiDAR platforms

Sensors & payloads

LiDAR
Multispectral
RGB
Seed dispensers

Related STEM

Biology and ecology
Geometry (tree height)
Remote sensing

Skills required

Mapping in rugged terrain
Tree identification
GIS and LiDAR processing

Careers

Forestry technician
Forester
Reforestation drone operator
GIS analyst

Education & training

Forestry or natural-resources programs (2- and 4-year)

Certifications

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
Society of American Foresters credentials (career)

Practice with Hamptonian apps

Pathways into this industry

Hamptonian

DroneWorks

Crack the Code. Read the Sky.