The use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for tracking stock movements in forest enterprise depots

In forestry applications in Turkey, forest enterprise depots (FEDs) are permanent main places where forest products such as logs and round timbers are stored and presented for sale to the market. The principal functions of FEDs are receiving, classifying, protecting, preparing the forest products for the sales and tracking the stock movements. According to Communique No 288 on the Production of Fundamental Forest Products published by General Directorate of Forestry in Turkey, it is obligatory to conduct stocktaking twice a year in FEDs for tracking and controlling the stock movements. The capabilities of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in tracking stock movements in FEDs have not been extensively studied yet in the current literature. This study aimed to test UAVs in determining volume of round timber storages inside a FED named "Gol", located in Golyaka District (Duzce, Turkey). A UAV flight was conducted and volume of round timber storage was calculated from point cloud, and compared to stock records for validation of UAV-based measurements. It was found that UAV-based volume measurements of the stock were quite compatible with available stock records. This study concluded that UAVs could be used in tracking stock movements in FEDs in an effective way.