FORESTRY & TREE CARE · SELECTION GUIDE
Choose visual records or multispectral monitoring for tree care, with processing, ground checks and repeat visits planned around the decision.
Evidence reviewed 3 November 2026 · Ireland
Choose the guide for your task
The practical answer
Start with establishment follow-up, canopy observations or a documented change between visits. FO-01 and FO-03 offer the Matrice 4E visual route; FO-02 is the Mavic 3M multispectral route with customer-supplied processing. Choose a pilot task and a responsible reviewer before scaling up.
Put the care question first
A woodland owner may need to locate patches requiring a walk-through, document the appearance of selected crowns, or organise records across several visits. Those questions do not require the same deliverable. Write down what the next person must be able to decide before comparing aircraft.
Keep tree growth and care at the centre of the brief. A useful outcome might be a numbered list of places for a forester to visit, supported by images and a map. It need not be a complicated model or a promise to identify a pathogen. Use current aircraft instructions for the actual mission. [1]
Choose visual records for location and appearance
Consider a visual workflow when a reviewer needs to understand a planting block, locate visible gaps or compare a tree with an earlier visit. Ask for an output sample and confirm how a field team would find each observation again.
FO-01 contains Matrice 4E, five flight batteries in total and the stated annual Terra Standard entitlement for Matrice 4E/4D data. FO-03 adds DJI Power 2000. These are alternative supply configurations around the same visual task, not separate levels of tree-health diagnosis. Written package contents determine what is supplied; image-processing success still needs a defined capture and acceptance process.
Define processing before choosing multispectral
FO-02 contains Mavic 3 Multispectral and four flight batteries in total. No processing-software licence is included. Identify who will process the imagery, which files they need and how the output will select places for field examination.
Ask the reviewer to explain an example in ordinary language: what is compared, what alternative explanations remain, and what evidence would change the conclusion. Avoid buying on the expectation that a coloured layer automatically becomes a tree-care prescription. If the downstream process is undecided, resolve that part of the purchase first. Confirm whether the customer already has suitable software and experience, or needs a separate arrangement.
Separate establishment from mature-tree assessment
Teagasc identifies competing vegetation as an important issue in young woodland establishment. [2] A practical aerial brief can direct an establishment walk without claiming to inspect every sapling remotely. Mark blocks, access points and places requiring attention.
For mature trees, the brief might instead organise crown photographs around existing tree identifiers. The information an arborist needs differs from a contractor’s young-planting checklist. Do not combine them into an unspecified promise to monitor all tree health. Agree the reviewer, intended observation and follow-up for each record. Keep the relevant professional advice alongside the imagery rather than making the image the final decision.
Keep the evidence chain usable
Open Forest Observatory separates collection, processing, mapping and comparison with ground references. [3] Apply that distinction when discussing deliverables. A successful flight is only one part of a usable record; processing and interpretation need their own scope.
Keep original images, visit dates, block identifiers and a simple explanation of missing coverage. Can a delivered model be reopened without a particular account? Does the reviewer receive source files or only screenshots? If several people use the records, agree naming and handover before the first visit. This makes a second visit easier to interpret and prevents the growing season becoming a collection of disconnected files.
Test one representative block
A hypothetical owner managing young broadleaf planting and older shelter trees could trial one planting block and several identified mature trees. The question would be whether the records help the forester choose follow-up locations and find them again. This is a planning example, not an Irish Drone project.
Include difficult portions rather than only an easy open area. Record unobserved places, processing effort and disagreements with the ground visit. Agree what would make wider use unsuitable: unclear locations, unacceptable missing coverage or an output the reviewer cannot use. A result that reveals an unsuitable method can be more valuable than repeating it across the holding.
Keep the trial record available to the next contractor as well as the present owner.
Plan the complete working process
The forestry packages include four hours of application-workflow training for up to two people, six months of introductory email support and two dataset-quality reviews, by agreement. Reviews are separate from an on-site inspection, diagnosis or signed certification.
Discuss charging, transport, storage, processing and professional review alongside the equipment. FO-03’s portable power is a planning option, not a guarantee of uninterrupted work. Read the establishment guide, the repeat-record guide or the concern-record guide for a narrower brief. Use current official planning resources for the actual Irish operation; a purchase does not provide permissions or professional qualifications.
Questions before choosing
Will the drone identify treatment needs? Agree observation and professional interpretation separately; no treatment diagnosis is supplied. Do I need multispectral processing? Decide from the reviewer’s evidence requirement, rather than adding a workflow without a question.
Does Standard cover FO-02? FO-02 has no processing licence; Standard in FO-01/03 is scoped to Matrice 4E/4D data. What should an enquiry contain? A block plan, intended decision and reviewer requirements. Compare FO-01, FO-02 and FO-03, or discuss the task with Irish Drone.
Compare the confirmed package configurations
| Package | Aircraft route | Flight batteries · total | Included processing licence | Field power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FO-01 | Matrice 4E | 5 | DJI Terra Standard — 12-month licence; Matrice 4E / Matrice 4D data only | Not included |
| FO-02 | Mavic 3 Multispectral | 4 | Not included | Not included |
| FO-03 | Matrice 4E | 5 | DJI Terra Standard — 12-month licence; Matrice 4E / Matrice 4D data only | DJI Power 2000 |
Explore the equipment packages on Irish Drone
Package illustrations show the listed configurations. Battery quantities are whole-package totals.
Official manuals and setup guidance
Continue with the guide for your work
Documentation and evidence
Sources for the cited guidance
- DJI aircraft instructionsRead source ↗
Reviewed 3 November 2026.
- Young woodland maintenanceRead source ↗
Reviewed 3 November 2026.
- Forest map validationRead source ↗
Reviewed 3 November 2026.
- DJI forest case — image referenceRead source ↗
Reviewed 3 November 2026.
Pingback: Repeat Drone Tree Records | Irish Drone
Pingback: Drone Tree-Care Records | Irish Drone
Pingback: Young Woodland Drone Records | Irish Drone