What forestry and environmental tasks can drones improve?

Drones (RPAS) support tasks such as linear and harvest operations monitoring, tree and crop health monitoring, field scouting, silviculture and regeneration surveys, volumetric and terrain measurements, and land cover classification, often replacing costlier or riskier ground- and satellite-based methods with more current, high-resolution data.

Do we need our own drone program, or can Silvacom manage flights for us?

Either. Silvacom can fly and process data on your behalf, or help you build in-house capacity through group training, flight reviews, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) support, drawing on advanced RPAS pilots, certified flight reviewers, and RPFs who can interpret the resulting data.

How is drone imagery different from satellite imagery for forestry monitoring?

Drone imagery reflects current, real-time ground conditions rather than those from the last satellite pass, and its higher resolution enables more precise analysis. It also lets crews target specific problem areas for field investigation instead of surveying an entire land base, saving time and reducing safety risks in hazardous terrain.

Can you monitor vegetation encroachment along utility rights-of-way or transmission corridors?

Yes. Our drone and remote sensing services can identify vegetation growth encroaching on rights-of-way, transmission corridors, and pipeline easements, giving utilities and pipeline operators the data they need to prioritize vegetation management and reduce outage or safety risks.

Drone and RPAS Services for Forestry

How is drone imagery used in forestry?

Drone imagery provides forestry and environmental teams with current ground conditions on demand, rather than waiting for the next satellite pass. Flown at low altitude, it resolves individual trees and small features, which supports pre-commercial thinning assessments, silviculture surveys, and establishment and free-to-grow checks that satellite imagery isn't reliable enough to support.

Because flights are targeted to specific stands, field crews spend their time on the areas that actually need attention, and hazardous or hard-to-reach sites can be surveyed without putting people on the ground. The orthophotos and models that are produced feed directly into GIS (geographic information systems) for measurement and analysis.

How we run drone and RPAS surveys

Our RPAS work is flown by certified pilots and checked by flight reviewers. The data is interpreted by our registered professional foresters (RPFs) who use it to inform their management decisions. You get the aerial survey and the forestry judgment to act on it from one team, not a pilot who hands back raw imagery.

Our forestry, environmental, and remote sensing teams work on the same project together, so drone data connects to inventory, monitoring, and planning rather than sitting in a silo. We fly from offices in Edmonton, Calgary, and Thunder Bay.

Our drone services cover:

Monitoring

We monitor linear features, tree and crop health, and active harvest operations, giving you repeatable, dated records of how a site changes over time.

Forestry and silviculture surveys

We run pre-commercial thinning planning, establishment and regeneration surveys, and performance and free-to-grow surveys from drone imagery, so silviculture obligations are assessed on current, stand-level data.

Data acquisition

We acquire LiDAR (light detection and ranging), high-resolution thermal, and multispectral imagery, matching the sensor to the project's measurement needs.

Mapping and analysis

We turn drone data into orthophotos, volumetric and terrain measurements, land-cover classification, and 3D models, already for GIS analysis and reporting.

Let's Talk About Your Drone Project

Silvacom has offices in Edmonton, Calgary and Thunder Bay to help solve your business challenges.

We would love to talk with you about how we can help you use drones to address your business needs.

We are trained drone pilots and data analytical experts. Let us help.

Alex Bilyk, MScF, RPF

Forest Inventory Innovation Manager

807-698-5686

alex.bilyk@silvacom.com

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about drone services (RPAS)

Silvacom (head office)

201 - 4723 52 Ave NW
Edmonton
Alberta, T6B 3R6
Canada

silvacom@silvacom.com

+1 780 462 3238

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Drone and RPAS Services at Silvacom