Smart Forests in Hungary

Here on the Hungary section of Agroberichten Buitenland, we often report on the progress of precision agriculture in the Hungarian agro sectors. After all, Hungary has vast plains covered with gold and emerald crops, and as climate change progresses, farmers, companies and authorities are more and more interested in precision methods in agriculture.

However, Hungary also has verdant green forests, and the country has plans for the increased maintenance and expansion of its woodlands in the face of already ongoing environmental change.

The Faculty of Forestry at the University of Sopron (also known as University of West Hungary) has recently announced that its newly re-formed Insitute of Geo-mathematics and Civil Engineering is now working on important projects based on the analysis of big data with the purpose of redefining the role of Hungary’s forests in the carbon cycle, in nature, the economy and society.

These projects fall under the umbrella of smart forest technologies, or in other words, precision forestry. This area is already well-developed and the leadership of the faculty is confident that with a high level of digitalization that integrates satellite earth observation data as well as surface and atmospheric telemetry with the management of forest maintenance assets, Hungary’s goal of increasing its woodland areas to 27% of the country’s territory is feasible.

“These so-called ‘smart forests’, equipped with smart sensors, can open a new dimension in forest management,” –commented Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Forestry Dr. Kornél Czimber in the faculty’s press release. “Climate change can be monitored from at least 30-year data series, however, smart sensors can detect and confirm patterns that we can only hypothesize on today,” added Dr. Czimber.

The University of Sopron has already developed their own applications for the processing of large quantities of data, which can manage gigabyte-sized data packages. These are currently used in the geoinformatics and geostatistics projects of the university.

According to the press release, the university is working together with partners to widen its cooperation in developing smart forestry applications. “Solutions developed together with business stakeholders and the utilization of modern smart devices are being integrated into the educational program of the Faculty of Forestry, step by step. Our main goal is to educate future professionals who will have up-to-date knowledge in the sustainable management of natural resources in forestry,” commented Deputy Dean Dr. Czimber.

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