In June 2019, we participated in a research project led by our partners at the Canadian Airborne Observatory Network (CABO). The objective of the CABO is to study and understand changes in plant biodiversity using spectranomics. An important part of their project depends on the samples collected at the top of the trees in order to calibrate their spectral models. For this project, we collected samples from mature sugar maples in Domtar plantations in Quebec.
In half a day, the DeLeaves tool collected about 25 canopy samples from the sugar maple that were 20 to 25 meters high. Samples were also collected at the mid-height of the same trees using a pole pruner. Our partners then analyzed the samples collected in a mobile laboratory. This study allowed our partners to realize that there were significant differences between the samples collected with the limitations of a pole pruner and the samples collected with the DeLeaves tool.
With this research project, our tool has shown that samples from the top of the tree are significantly different from those collected at mid-height. This is an added advantage for the DeLeaves tool over traditional sampling methods. Our partners will present the results of this research project in a forthcoming scientific article.