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ArborCarbon is part of the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and Their Applications

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ArborCarbon is excited to be a partner in the new ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and their Applications. The recently announced Centre aims to develop a world-class Australian expertise in the research and development, manufacturing and commercial application of both CubeSats (small satellites weighing only a few kilograms), and cutting-edge drones equipped with a range of advanced sensors.

These technologies have a wide range of applications, including remote sensing for agricultural and forestry purposes. The Centre will provide exciting opportunities for PhD students to work with ArborCarbon in this area. For more information, please click here, or contact Paul Barber at ArborCarbon.

Pocket Diagnostic® test kits – Phytophthora

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ArborCarbon are the Australasian distributors for Pocket Diagnostic® rapid lateral flow assay testing kits.  These test kits quickly and simply detect a range of damaging plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses, for use either on-site or in the laboratory.

There are different tests to identify pathogens such as;

  • Phytophthora (Dieback)
  • Potato virus Y
  • Erwinia amylovora
  • Ralstonia solanacearum (Brown rot)

Tests can be used for a wide range of plant material, including woody tissue, shoots, roots, tough leaves and soft materials.  They are also suitable for water baited samples.

 See video

Blog image RAPID DIAGNOSTICS

                           

More Articles and Videos;

       (EFINORD-SNS Meeting: Phytophthora Diseases of Forest Trees in Northern Europe)

 

Also see the Pocket Diagnostic® website.

For pricing or more information please contact ArborCarbon  enquiries@arborcarbon.com.au

 

Myrtle rust has potential to cause regional extinction of iconic animals

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There are calls for a national plan to fight the fugal disease myrtle rust, which is destroying native trees.  and, experts says, has the potential to cause regional extinction of iconic Australian animals.

“This will threaten some of our iconic native species and there is the strong possibility that some of these species will go extinct,” chief executive of Plant Biosecurity Centre for Collaborative Research Dr Michael Robinson said.

See ABC News article

Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS) or ‘Drones’ – are they the answer for precision vegetation monitoring?

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Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS), Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAV), or Drones as commonly referred to, have captured the imagination of people. Their potential applications are almost endless, but are they the most appropriate platform for collection of airborne imagery on vegetation cover and condition.

Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 3.10.26 pm

Change detection multispectral imagery at 1m pixel resolution acquired from fixed-wing plane. Inset: 1cm true colour imagery acquired using an UAS.

ArborCarbon scientists have been conducting research on the applications of satellite and airborne multi and hyperspectral imagery for more than 10 years. The variety of platforms carrying the sensing device (e.g. camera) include satellite, fixed-wing plane, helicopter and UAS. The range of sensors attached to these platforms include multispectral and hyperspectral imaging devices. ArborCarbon scientists first started using UAS in projects for capturing airborne imagery over vegetation monitoring sites in 2010 and were the first company in the world to do so for vegetation monitoring to determine the potential impacts of groundwater drawdown and alteration of sheet flow on mulga and riparian communities in Australia.

We are very selective about using UAS platforms for the capture of airborne imagery to measure and monitor vegetation cover and condition, including in precision agriculture and measurement of NDVI, as we have a close understanding of all the factors that affect these measurements. The arrival of many new ‘drone’ platforms and cheap multispectral cameras onto the market has certainly raised the profile of remote sensing and its potential application for precision vegetation management. However, there are many times when there are greater costs associated with acquiring data using these platforms due to mobilisation, limitations on battery life, and processing time.

We encourage anybody looking to use remote sensing for precision vegetation monitoring, whether that be for trees, horticulture, agriculture or turf, to carefully consider the range of platforms and sensors available, and discuss these with people who have an unbiased view.

Climate change could put eucalypts at risk of death from air bubbles

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“Extreme droughts could lead to widespread death of eucalypts from embolisms, researchers say.

ArborCarbon scientists have co-authored publications that have investigated the link between bioclimate events like drought to the decline of eucalypt forests in Western Australi.

Key points

  • Some trees can shrink the width of their water transport vessels in response to lack of water
  • Eucalypts are not able to do this which puts them at risk of developing air bubbles in their vessels
  • This would make them vulnerable to extreme heatwaves and drought due to climate change”

Read the Article on ABC Science

More trees in cities: Federal gov’t to set national goals

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The federal government has announced it will establish goals for increasing the urban tree canopy cover in Australia’s cities, in an effort to reduce the heat island effect.Read this article on  ArchitectureAU

 

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