Stora Enso tracks bark beetle activity using satellite imaging

The Client

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper globally.

Challenge

Stora Enso, one of the largest forest owners in Sweden, wanted to more effectively track the spread of European spruce bark beetle activity across expansive wooded areas.

The partners needed to be able to find beetle infestations quickly across a massive amount of land in order to proactively preserve the company’s forests and maintain a sustainable future for the spruce species.

Solution

Partnering with Sogeti, Stora Enso utilized the Geo Satellite Intelligence (GSI) system, which uses artificial intelligence to review satellite imaging to identify spruce bark beetle attacks.

Benefits

• Protection of substantial economic value in timber and forests.
• Reduction in manual effort while reviewing satellite.
• Enhanced accuracy of bark beetle identification.

Tracking the spread of bark beetle populations

Environmental threats come in many shapes and sizes. Traditionally, the media has made viewers accustomed to images of smokestacks spewing smog into the sky and massive oil leaks spreading throughout previously sparkling bodies of water. However, some hazards are so small that they can be easily missed. One such example, the European spruce bark beetle, represents a danger to forests across significant parts of Sweden and the diverse environments within them.

Due to particularly hot and dry weather in recent years, most notably 2018, the population density of the spruce bark beetle grew rapidly until the species had spread enough to risk major ecological damage. The Swedish Forest Agency and private forest owners have searched for methods of controlling local overexpansion of the bark beetles while preserving natural Swedish ecology. For Stora Enso, one of the nation’s largest forest owners, the situation was no different.

By implementing the Geo Satellite Intelligence (GSI) solution to monitor 200,000 hectares of forest, Stora Enso utilizes satellite imagery and AI to search through images of vast swathes of land in search of trees infected by bark beetle populations. Using the Deep Learning model to automatically recognize infestations once satellite images become available, the solution is capable of identifying attacks within a group of four to five trees quickly.

Download the Stora Enso client story PDF to read more.