Developing the novel integrated forest hydrology catchment model bespoke
Scion hosted Dr. Don White, Director and lead researcher of Whitegum Forest and Natural Resource Management for 6 weeks. He worked with inFact Limited and NIWA to develop and improved the novel integrated forest hydrology catchment model bespoke for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Forest Flows programme. Although the model is at an early stage of development, it is already providing very good predictions of tree water use and ...
August 24, 2022Successful deployment of the TriOS Optical Sensors NICO nitrate sensor
The Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour programme has successfully deployed TriOS Optical Sensors NICO nitrate sensor to continuously measure stream nitrate in NZ's planted forest catchments. These sensors will give us an unparalleled understanding of daily nitrate fluxes in planted forests throughout the year. This is poorly understood. Measuring the stream continuously avoids the costs and logistics with taking water samples in planted forests once ...
August 17, 2022Evaluation of Multiscale SMAP Soil Moisture Products in Forested Environments
This study, lead by University of Massachusetts Amherst Konstantinos Andreadis, is one of the first to demonstrate that despite the challenges with its active radar, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission can accurately measure soil moisture magnitude and dynamics underneath a dense, closed Pinus radiata forest canopy. It compared L-band SMAP products at multiscale products (9km, 3km, and 1km) across 7 sites with differing soils and topographic complexity. We found that the...
August 15, 20222022 Annual progress update
Our local community engagement continued and expanded in 2021-2022 with in-person and online workshops where we shared knowledge and answered questions on a number of areas including land use, forestry, carbon forests, water, and government policy. We determined and described the different components (e.g., actors, resources, and drivers or dynamics processes of change) of the local socio-hydrological system. We now have a fully functional, integrated biophysical hydrological model specifically ...
June 30, 2022A systematic review of participatory integrated assessment at the catchment scale
A systematic review of participatory integrated assessment at the catchment scale: Lessons learned from practice. The literature review was done as part of the Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Programme and was led by Scion's Grace Villamor. The review concluded that Participatory Integrated Assessment (PIA) is a useful approach for navigating the dual social-ecological dimensions of environmental and resource management issues. However, ...
June 29, 2022Forest Flows has now 4 of the 5 primary research sites up and running!
Thanks to the tireless work of Scion and NIWA field teams, Forest Flows has now 4 of the 5 primary research sites up and running! It is providing real time, big data data on water use, water retention, and water release from planted forest catchments in remote areas for the Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour programme....
December 6, 2021Growth, water use, and water use efficiency of Eucalyptus globulus and Pinus radiata plantations compared with natural stands of Roble-Hualo forest in the coastal mountains of central Chile
Abstract The water-use of plantations compared to alternative land uses is an important natural resource management issue in central Chile. The need for local data is heightened by a drying trend in the local climate, the potential for planted forests to store carbon and local plans to replace plantations of Pinus radiata D. Don with Eucalyptus globulus Labill. This paper compares the growth and water balance of P. radiata and native forest (Hualo – Nothofagu...
December 1, 20212nd primary research site sensor network is now live
Scion's FlowLab IOT wireless sensor network for the 2nd primary research site is now live! It is providing real time data for the Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour programme.Once fully operational, the FlowLab wireless meshed network, developed by inFact Limited, will generate over 300,000 observations every 24 hours from 5 primary research sites Combined with data from NIWA sensors, we will be able to understand & quantify water use,...
November 16, 2021Community workshop held in Dannevirke, Tararua District
The Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Programme held its second community workshop in Dannevirke, Tararua District with Dean Meason, Grace Villamor and Tim Barnard. We had great engagement with the participants and we learnt a lot from them. The scones were great too! We will be organising more community workshops throughout New Zealand in the next 6 months....
October 28, 2021FlowLab IOT wireless sensor network fully operational at one site
The Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour programme has reached a milestone with the Scion's FlowLab IOT wireless sensor network fully operational at one site. The FlowLab network, developed by inFact Limited, are comprised of 25 dataloggers and one gateway. It provides real time, big environmental data from 200 sensors measuring tree growth and water use, and soil water every 15 minutes across the catchment.Once fully operational, the FlowLab...
October 27, 2021FlowLab datalogger rollout suspended
NZ's COVID-19 Lockdown has suspended Scion's FlowLab datalogger rollout for the Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour programme. However, we were able to get a partial IOT wireless sensor network operational at one site. It is flawlessly providing real time data from sensors that measure tree growth and water use, and soil water. Once fully operational, the FlowLab wireless meshed network will generate over 300,000 observations from 5 sites every 2...
October 27, 2021Our key remote sensing technology has arrived in the country
The key remote sensing technology for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Forest Flows programme, SimSAR L- and P-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar, has arrived in NZ. Once the paperwork is approved, it will measure soil moisture at a fine spatial resolution to a depth of up to 1.5m within forested catchments. The technology will help unlock the mysteries of water use, retention and release in planted forests. The University of Auckland's Delwyn Moller is lea...
October 27, 2021Launch of the Artificial Intelligence Institute
ForestFlows Research Leader Dean Meason attended the launch of the The University of Waikato's Te Ipu o te Mahara - Artificial Intelligence Institute. One of the research programmes highlighted by Institute Director Professor Albert Bifet was the collaboration between the Institute's TAIAO programme and Scion Lead Forest Flows programme - Impactful Across Disciplines. ...
October 27, 2021A new collaboration
This article talks about Scion's Forest Flows Programme collaboration with The University of Waikato's TAIAO Programme, led by Albert Bifet, to use cutting edge machine learning and artificial intelligence methodologies to analyse the Big Data being collected by thousands of Forest Flows sensors, in real time. This novel intersection of environmental science and computer science will provide new insights into water quantity and quality from NZ's planted forests and for downstream users. Bot...
October 27, 2021"Generation One" Tree Ecophysiology Sensor Network
In this video a Scion Field Technical Officer is working at "Generation One" Tree Ecophysiology Sensor Network. This network of 270 electronic dendrometers, 28 sap flow flux sensors, and 15 soil moisture sensors was established in a radiata pine "Accelerator Trial" during the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Forest Growers Research Ltd (FGR) Growing Confidence in Forestry's Future Programme for almost 3 years and is now providing data for the Fore...
October 27, 2021First community workshop held
The Forest Flows Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Programme held its first community workshop in Masterton September lead by Grace Villamor and Tim Barnard. We will be hosting more workshops throughout NZ once regional COVID-19 Alert Levels have eased....
September 30, 20212021 Annual progress update
The keystone technology for Forest Flows, SimSAR L- and P-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), has arrived in New Zealand from its USA partner Artemis, and is operational. SimSAR is a novel remote sensing technology and the keystone technology provides the programme with the ability to measure soil moisture from an aircraft at a fine spatial resolution (10-25 m) to a depth of 1.5 m. This technology provides New Zealand for the first time, the ability to map accurately spatially variation in soil...
June 30, 2021Forest Flows-Real Time Monitoring of Water Quantity and Quality Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Planted Forests
This paper was published in the 2020 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) International Conference proceedings and it summarises the Forest Flows objectives and the unique data fusion of advanced and novel terrestrial and remote sensing technology of water quantity and quality dynamics from planted forest catchments in real time. It also outlines the continuous engagement approach with multiple end users and stakeholders to ensure the science provides the relevant infor...
October 26, 2020Prototype wireless network set up
The Forest Flows programme set up a prototype IOT wireless network to test the functionality of the novel FlowLab dataloggers designed by inFact Limited with the electronic dendrometer and METER Group TEROS11 soil moisture sensors. The wireless network and sensors are performing very well and provides us with confidence to move to the next step in batch manufacturing FlowLab dataloggers....
October 26, 2020inFact Limited to develop novel wireless data loggers
Scion is pleased to announce that inFact Limited will be developing novel wireless data loggers for the MBIE Forest Flows programme. Their design of a large IOT wireless meshed data logger network that can operate in dense, steep forested catchments while collecting data from multiple sensors in real time will be a NZ, and possibly world, first....
October 25, 2020Locating research sites across New Zealand
Over the last three months, the Forest Flows team have travelled throughout New Zealand to locate research sites for forest flows. With our NIWA colleagues, and thanks to the landowners and managers, we have located all five research catchments in the Northland, Auckland, Manuwatu-Whanganui, Canterbury, and West Coast regions. In addition, we have identified research sites in the Waikato and Wairarapa regions to measure water use between radiata pine genotypes, exotic and indigenous tree sp...
October 25, 2020Glendhu Experimental Catchment visit
Programme Lead Dean Meason had the honour of visiting Glendhu Experimental Catchment with Manaaki Wheuna - Landcare Research's Barry Fahey and John Payne before they retire after a long and illustrious career in forest hydrology research. University of Otago's Sarah Mager and representatives from Rayonier's Southland office were also present....
October 6, 20202020 Annual progress update
The first year has focused on getting the programme up and running, with Scion leading the development of the operational research plan together with the programme collaborators. We have successfully contracted four national and eight international collaborators. Working with stakeholders, we have identified all six main research sites for the programme sites in Northland, Auckland, Manawatu-Whanganui, Wairarapa, Canterbury, and West Coast regions. Despite the disruptions from COVID-19, the prog...
June 30, 2020First field trip to Ashley Forest
First field trip for Forest Flows programme to Ashley Forest by some of the Scion (including Dr Amanda Matson) and members of the team from NIWA. The trip served as an opportunity for the team from two New Zealand Crown Research Institutes (CRI's) to come together and to understand some of the challenges of locating suitable research sites for all research teams to meet the Forest Flow programme needs. Fun day had by all despite some navigation challenges....
October 4, 2019Planted forests and water yield in New Zealand’s hydrological landscape – current and future challenges
AbstractNew Zealand’s water resources are coming under increasing pressure with intensification of the primary sector along with a growing population and urbanisation. With the increased water demand by rural and urban users, the forestry sector’s interest in intensifying production, and the potential impacts of climate change, planted forests are increasingly seen as a significant competitor for regional water resources. This perception, rightly or wrongly, could impact how existing forests...
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