FORESTRY - SPATIAL DATABASE MANAGEMENT
GSD has successfully delivered many contracts over the last five years to NRW to enhance and add value to their in house forestry compartment database. GSD provides GIS support to update and analyse the Welsh Government Woodland Estate (WGWE) forestry database using a bespoke module for ESRI’s ArcMap as well as a range of open-source software. Forester Web training and input has also recently begun.
Much of the work involves liaising with the clients' foresters and planners as well as liaising with and coordinating GSD’s specialist surveyors. This work is critical for our clients' forest resource planning programme and for maintaining their UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS) accreditation. The work involves inspecting satellite imagery to improve the clients' forestry datasets and identifying anomalies within the data. Our team of experienced woodland field surveyors will survey areas and collect data that GSD analysts will then input into NRW’s database.
GSD has introduced innovative ways to both improve accuracy and decrease the time taken to find discrepancies in the delivery of this project. This has included introducing using mobile apps for field data collection. Regular updates are provided to the client in the form of reports and maps some of which have been automated to decrease the time taken and to ensure consistency.