At a time when cities and towns are losing their green cover to unplanned urbanisation, researchers at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Hyderabad have come up with a new method to scientifically count trees and generate density maps to denote the same. A ride across the city with a basic camera to record videos is all that is required to generate a tree count and density map within minutes. The computer-vision-aided tool for object detection uses a machine-learning algorithm that can automatically detect and count the number of trees abutting roads. More than 50 trees per kilometer would mean a very good tree count, while less than 20 trees per km is a low tree count. On the map generated by the system, dark green represents a very good tree count, and areas with the lowest tree count are denoted in black.

Source: Indian Express July 07, 2021 03:33 UTC