From Digital Twins to Smarter Thinning: Advancing Real-Time Forest Management in OptiForValue
How can forest operators make better thinning decisions while harvesting is still underway? A digital innovation first developed through the UNITE Flagship and IlmoStar projects, and now being further developed and validated in OptiForValue, is helping answer that question by bringing real-time decision support closer to everyday forestry operations.
Bringing real-time intelligence to thinning operations
Thinning is one of the most important interventions in managed forests. The intensity of thinning affects future timber yields, stand growth, forest health, carbon sequestration, and the overall value generated from forest resources.
Yet operators often have limited information about the condition of the remaining stand during harvesting. Key indicators such as basal area and stem density are typically estimated before or after operations, rather than monitored in real time.
The R-TIM (Real-Time Thinning Intensity Monitor) concept aims to change this. Before harvesting begins, a forest stand is scanned using remote sensing technologies to create a detailed single-tree map, forming a digital twin of the forest. As trees are harvested, they are matched to their counterparts in the digital twin and removed from the model, creating a continuously updated representation of the remaining forest.
This enables estimates of thinning intensity and remaining stand characteristics to be generated in real time, providing valuable decision support to operators while also reducing manual work related to reporting requirements.
Showcasing R-TIM at FORMEC
Eero Holmström from LUKE recently presented the R-TIM concept at the FORMEC conference, sharing results from Finnish case studies and simulation-based evaluations carried out within the UNITE and IlmoStar projects.
The presentation demonstrated both the technical feasibility of combining remote sensing and harvester data with a digital twin approach, and the potential of the concept to improve the quality and consistency of thinning operations.
The conference also provided an opportunity to highlight how OptiForValue is building on these earlier projects to further develop and validate the concept under operational conditions.
Taking the next step in OptiForValue
A key objective of OptiForValue is to accelerate the uptake of digital solutions that improve the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of Europe’s forest-based value chains. R-TIM demonstrates how digitalisation can transform forest inventory data into practical decision-support tools.
In OptiForValue, researchers will be progressing this concept as part of WP3 OptiAgile, and testing it in Finland for further validation. R-TIM development will be incorporated into OptiAgile’s work on monitoring harvesting quality and the smart assessment of alternative forest management options. By advancing a concept established in previous research projects, OptiForValue helps bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring promising technologies move closer to real-world application.