Vegetation

Aquila Ecology provides vegetation monitoring that is many times more efficient than classical vegetation recordings. In the field, we take hundreds or thousands of photos, which are cropped by the software. The plant species depicted in the photo are automatically recognised. This can produce a very comprehensive dataset in a short time.

Aquila Ecology offers different solutions for collecting the images, depending on the situation. In many cases, a field worker with a high-resolution camera will take the images. However, this can also be done with a drone or another tailor-made solution. The images are automatically provided with GPS location, which is read by the software.

A specially developed technology allows us to take photos of roadsides from a vehicle at 80 km/h, which are analysed by AI. This makes it possible to survey hundreds of kilometres of roadside at low cost. This makes it easy to map large species such as Japanese knotweed, Giant hogweed and Jacob's wort. With customisation, it is also possible to inventory smaller species.

Aquila Ecology's method is unique in that a very comprehensive dataset can be generated in a relatively short time. Moreover, the data is completely objective, where a field worker may have a stronger focus on or more experience with certain species. Aquila Ecology can use the generated data to calculate all kinds of indices such as Ellenberg values, biodiversity, insect suitability, etc.