Water Harvesting Pits on Forest Roads – Perspectives? A Case Study in the Czech Republic

Purpose of the Review Forest accessibility and road network density are important concerns not only for forest managers, but also for everyone who benefits from forests, whether for professional or personal use. A well-planned forest road network, integrated with the forest ecosystem, is a fundamental element of rational and efficient forest management. This review aims to describe the current state of forest road density and overall forest accessibility in Europe, as well as relevant global examples. Recent Findings When a forest road network is distributed adequately across an area, it can support many, if not all, tasks outlined in forest management plans, with high efficiency and minimal costs during construction and maintenance. Collecting data on forest accessibility and primary forest road density at the national level in many countries is a complex task. Diverse terrain conditions, economic factors, and forest management practices have led to variability in the data. A common thread, however, is the optimistic outlook on the use of modern technologies for road network planning and data acquisition. Summary Efficient forest management, especially harvesting operations, relies on a road network with appropriate density, load-bearing capacity, and alignment. Primary forest transport infrastructure helps reduce timber extraction costs by minimising extraction distances and shortening the travel time from the forest stand to the market. As such, forest road density and accessibility are crucial elements in planning forest operations. Despite differences in terrain conditions, harvesting systems, and economic contexts across Europe and globally, research consistently highlights the need to improve the efficiency of road network planning. Future research on forest accessibility should focus on integrating valuable data collection with scientific research and ensuring effective knowledge transfer to forest practitioners.

The specific way in which a forest road is designed affects the management in the forest environment and timber transport. The aim of this study was to find out whether an inclusion of the ecological criterion in the forest road design will change the parameter of the longitudinal gradient of forest hauling roads and whether these changes will have an effect on the accessibility of forest stands by timber hauling machinery. The possible changes in the longitudinal gradient can also affect the technology of forest road surfacing and the selection of the appropriate surface type. We can state that an inclusion of the ecological criterion in the forest road network design will bring statistically significant changes in longitudinal gradients of forest hauling roads. The mean longitudinal gradient of the current forest road network is 2.82 % and the mean longitudinal gradient of the forest road network designed with inclusion of the ecological criterion is 4.82 %. The results show statistically significant changes in the longitudinal parameters of forest hauling roads. However, it will not bring a need for a change in construction technology, and will not affect the accessibility of forest stands by timber hauling machinery.

Planning forest truck roads network involves a lot of factors that directly affect their density and length. Depending on the purpose of the forest truck road network, this number is higher or lower. Our opinion was that these factors should be divided into invariable and variable. Common parameters, regardless of the purpose of the roads, are morphometric parameters because they can limit the length and density of the network of forest truck roads due to their variety of forms. For this reason, this paper deals exclusively with the morphometric characteristics of the terrain and their influence on the density of the network of forest truck roads. The DEM of the terrain was processed with GIS software based on the seven most important influencing factors. By standardizing the criteria, the obtained maps were reclassified, and then each of the seven selected parameters was weighted with the coefficients obtained by the AHP method.In this way, a map of the suitability of the terrain for the construction and addition to the existing network of forest truck roads was obtained. The terrain is divided into 4 categories of suitability. Zero lines were drawn with GIS tools for road design. During the creation of the optimal road network, it was tested with absolute and relative openness.As a final result, each of 26 Forest Economic Areas (FEA) was assigned to one of 4 categories of terrain suitability for the construction and density of the forest truck road network. For each category of terrain convenience, the optimal absolute and relative openness is shown. Based on this work, we suggest that the use of morphometric parameters should be considered as the first step of forest road planning in other regions.

Sustainable use of forests

Secondary forest road network planning and primary timber extraction systems play very important roles in sustainable forest management. The progression of forest areas in Turkey and the world towards mountains as well as the increase in working obligations have made timber extraction systems gain more importance. The forest areas found in mountainous lands with harsh slopes in Turkey makes timber extraction systems more problematic and more complex. The objective of this study is to develop a model for timber extraction systems using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis considering terrain morphology and secondary forest road network. Additionally the forest road network in Anbardağ forest planning unit of Giresun province in Turkey was investigated considering forest road density and forest road spacing. According to obtained results, the forest road length was 226.34 km, forest road density was 11.74 m/ha, forest road spacing was 851.7 m and road coverage was 51% of the study area. Chainsaw–small size cable crane (36.76%) and chainsaw–medium size cable crane (27.94%) were selected as the most suitable timber extraction systems for the steep terrain study area according to our model. They were followed by chainsaw–forest tractor (23.52%), chainsaw–agriculture tractor (10.29%) and chainsaw–sledge yarder (1.49%). The results of this study showed that GIS saved a considerable amount of labor force, time and cost for the evaluation of forest road network as well as the development model for timber extraction system.

Forest road networks which are one of the most important tools of continuous and rational forestry should put into operation to forest area equal and adequate in line with the objectives of forestry. Forest road network that will be planned should be planned in accordance with the general management objectives of the forests, taking into consideration the ecological balance, to establish the most appropriate and short connection between storage and production place. In our country, functional-based forest management plans are carried out to provide multi-purpose utilization from forest areas. Even so, a road planning approach hasn’t been carried out for different purposes in planning of forest roads that is most important infrastructure facilities performing in success of forest management plans. Therefore, the necessity of the reorganization of forest road network according to the functional planning principles to be serve different functions have arised. Nowadays, in accordance with demands of consumers forest products which are producted in certain standard can also be removed in different sizes from the forest with production functions. In the study, determined stands to be subject to whole log production, routes to be planed as type - A forest road that are suitable for use transportation vehicles with multi-wheeled truck type were determined to transportation of tall logs and removal more log at a time this the areas. Thus, stands are that the production can be made as whole log the form and also close to the main road (1000 m, 1500 m, 2000 m air distance from roads with asphalt superstructure) were determined. In order to exploit to stands, routes of existing or planned B-type secondary forest roads that will be upgraded to A-type secondary forest roads the standards were planned in ArcGIS environment. Key Words: Forest road planning, Type-A forest road, Whole log transport, Long-haulage vehicles

Multifunctional forest management should provide the opportunity to create, conserve, modify or eliminate forest roads. Within protected areas, it is difficult to make a single assessment of the degree of accessibility to different forest areas, having to mediate among productive forestry, protection needs and other benefits deriving from forest stands. A GIS-based methodology, with the support of a Forest Information System (FIS) and available Forest Plans for the study area, were applied to create an accessibility map (based on the forest roads network) for the Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park (PNALM). Results were related to several FIS metadata, highlighting that accessibility in the study area was sufficient, but not optimal, in the productive management units, being rather poor in those where soil protection and biodiversity conservation are the main functions (only 38.8% of them were accessible). Forest roads density (28.5 m ha−1) was not homogeneously distributed within the study area and the ratio between forest road length (199.4 km) and planned forest surface (13,355.3 ha) is only 14.9 m ha−1. In contrast to what is commonly found in forest accessibility works, the innovative element of this study was the involvement of PNALM’s technical office in evaluating the results and exploring the opportunity to adopt a different policy for forest roads network management.

Length of the primary forest roads in the Federation of BiH is 11.821,00 km that includes the categories of public and forest truck roads. Cantonal Public companies for forest management in the Federation of BiH are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of forest truck roads. The starting point in the analysis related to forest truck roads is to determine the quality and quantity of the existing forest road network. This paper deals with data for all forest truck roads in the territory of Federation of BiH that in total includes 2.907 forest truck roads. The following data were collected and analysed: pavement type, pavement width, longitudinal slope and traffic load per year per 24 h. The analysis of these elements can serve as the basis for categorizing of forest truck roads into primary, secondary and access roads, as well as starting point in planning process related to the maintenance works and future forest road construction.

The sustainable forest management can be achieved only through environmentally sound and economically efficient and feasible forest road networks and transportation systems that can potentially improve the multi-functional use of forest resources. However, road network planning and construction suggest long-term finance that require a capital investment (cash outflow), which would be equal to the value of the total revenue flow (cash inflow) over the whole lifecycle project. This paper emphasizes in an eco-efficient and economical optimum evaluation method for the forest road networks in the mountainous forest of Metsovo, Greece. More specifically, with the use of this technique, we evaluated the forest roads' (a) total construction costs, (b) annual maintenance cost, and (c) log skidding cost. In addition, we estimated the total economic value of forest goods and services that are lost from the forest roads' construction. Finally, we assessed the optimum eco-efficient and economical forest roads densities based on linear equations that stem from the internal rate of return method (IRR) and have been presented graphically. Data analysis and its presentation are achieved with the contribution of geographic information systems (GIS). The technique which is described in this study can be for the decision makers an attractive and useful implement in order to select the most eco-friendly and economical optimum solution to plan forest road network or to evaluate the existing forest transportation systems. Hence, with the use of this method, we can combine not only the multi-objective utilization of natural resources but also the environmental protection of forest ecosystems.

Relative forest accessibility percent of accessible forest area by forest roads in comparison with total forest area is the most important indicator of the quality of primary forest accessibility. The accessible forest area by forest roads is determined by the bounded area around forest roads. Today, in the area with steep and variable slopes of terrain, a double targeted geometrical extraction distance of timber is used for the width of the bounded area around forest roads, and the forest road spacing is used in the area with a mild and uniform slope of the terrain. Both parameters depend on the targeted density of forest roads. Modern information technologies (IT) like geographical information systems (GIS) enable the quality spatial and statistical analysis of different kinds of data whose result is not accessible forest areas by current primary forest traffic infrastructure only, but also an insight into the spatial distribution of insufficient accessible areas into the forest area. The spatial distribution of these areas is significant for spatial distribution of the new routes of forest roads. The research is done in the area of Forest Management Unit (FMU) Prosara, for which the spatial analysis of a digital terrain model (DTM) determined the mostly hilly relief area. The average relative forest accessibility, based on double targeted geometrical extraction distance of timber, is 35% for the actual network of forest roads, and targeted forest road spacing is 60% for the upgraded network of forest roads.

Forest roads are the key infrastructures that provide access to forest areas for sustainable management, protection, and utilization of forest resources. In order to benefit from the important functions of forest roads, they should be built in with adequate technical road standards. The road network with low technical standards require more frequent major repairs to ensure continues access to forest resources. In addition, only small trucks with low load capacity can move on the low standard roads. Furthermore, the low road standards limit the truck speed that increases vehicle travel time. These negative effects increase the transportation costs which are an important part of the timber production costs in Turkey. Thus, improving the road standards and developing forest transportation planning should be evaluated together in the most appropriate way. Large logging trucks with high load capacity are generally preferred for efficient transportation of wood-based forest products. In Turkey, large logging trucks, however, cannot operate on the most of the forest roads because insufficient technical road standards (road width, curve radius, surface materials, road structures) limit the maneuverability of large logging trucks. In this study, the objective is to determine the effects of improving forest road standards on total net profit of forest products by using the NETWORK 2000 program, a heuristic approach for solving forest transportation problems. Three Forest Enterprise Chiefs (FECs) located in Mustafakemalpaşa Forest Enterprise Directorate (FED) in Bursa Forest Regional Directorate were selected as the study area. The digital data layers for forest road network was generated by using ArcGIS 10.4 software. In the solution process, firstly, the optimum routes that minimize the transportation cost and maximize the total net profit of forest products on existing forest road networks were investigated for a truck type (15 ton) currently used in the region. In the second case, forest transportation was planned for the high load capacity truck (29 ton) moving on the forest roads with improved standards. In the first case, the transportation costs and annual major repair costs were considered in the calculation of the net profit of forest products, while one time cost of road improvement activities (i.e. road improvement construction, road structure installation, road surface construction) and annual maintenance costs were considered along with transportation costs in the second case. In both cases, the costs of other forest operations (i.e. felling, logging, etc.) were not considered since it was assumed that they do not vary with the forest transportation alternatives. As a result of the transportation plan developed for high load capacity truck, the annual transportation cost decreased by 46.85% comparing to the local logging trucks with low load capacity. Using improved road standards, the total road costs computed for the time period of 30 years (i.e. the average expected life cycle of forest roads) were reduced by 4.64%. The total net profit of forest products transported by using a high load capacity truck was 473,340 Euro more than that of using low load capacity truck on the existing forest road network. Thus, improving road standards might result in some additional costs in the road construction stage, but total net profit of forest products increase since transportation costs along with maintenance and repair costs considerably decrease in the long term.

In this study, it was aimed to develop a methodology to determine the quality level and conceptual framework for forest roads, to describe the components of road quality, to create the criteria and indicators sets that are effective on decision making on the quality of the forest road and how to decide if a road segment and network is quality or not by putting all these in a assessment list. The main criteria that were used in the assessment of road quality which were the criteria of sustainable forest management were economical, ecological, social-institutional and technical criteria that were added in this study. Economic main criterion has 2 sub-criteria, 5 indicators and 24 factors/variables; ecology main criteria has 4 sub-criteria, 13 indicators and 50 factors, social main criteria has 3 sub-criteria, 8 indicators and 17 factors, and technical main criteria has 3 sub-criteria, 6 indicators and 34 factor those depends on it. It is possible to determine the quality degree of a forest road and forest road network by using the enhanced forest road quality assessment method. In this way, this study's results can be used for choosing the standard routes, determining the priority of road maintenance, supposing the potential risks and for developing a quality coefficient to estimate the transportation costs. Keywords: Forest road quality, Road quality analysis, Quality assessment, Forest road, GIS

Forest road construction for harvest operation are always been subjected to certain constrictions and limitations. Engineering practices on forest road alignment are hindered by costly environmental and operational assessment. GIS tools and related data such as remote sensing allows in allocating suitable access road by taking consideration of environmental and cost implication. The aim of this study is to present the method of integration of remote sensing data and GIS in allocating access road for forest harvesting using best path modeling. Therefore, the specific objectives of this study are to allocate the optimal forest roads network in forest operation, and to determine the density of forest road network. Allocating the best paths for forest road access for timber harvesting is a problem that can be solved by computer based approaches using spatial modeling. Spatial modeling is used to compute the indicative factors that suit road allocation. The model developed and designed using GIS to propose feasibility forest road allocation in the hill area. The method was designed to produce road layouts taking topographical features and forest environmental constraints into special consideration. In this study, four grid themes influencing the road construction were identified; elevation, slope, barrier of lake and distance to existing roads. The total of access road aligned and proposed in the respective area was 28,745.35m. Meanwhile the overall density calculated in selected compartments was about 9.93m/ha (0.80%). The densities of road paths presented here were achieved below as outlined by the forestry department. Thus, there is potential to reduce damage to the residual stand and to the ground area disturbance by the harvesting operation. The forest road alignment and information in this study provides an initial foundation on which GIS can be used for this kind of analysis in forest road planning. The result is not only associated with forest transportation, but at the same time is useful to identify a risk of road construction to the environment. This revealed that the minimum density of forest road construction can help mitigate the loss of ecological services of tropical forest subject to logging pressure and lead to greater financial benefit in future operations.

IOT innovation is used in the development of the Smart Farming Tracking the System. An Arduino Uno, a temperature humidity sensor, soil moisture sensor, water level sensor, water pumps, and DC motors strength this system. If the smart farming tracking system turns on, the sensors find the field’s water level and the soil’s moisture level. If the irrigation water stage falls below the level defined for a specific crop grown in the growing area, the irrigation system is going to start to pump water. The IOT warns concerning current level of water, soil moisture stage, and motor beginning will be shown on the LCD panel of the section. We are able to use the pumps by hand via a webpage. The farmers are additionally getting this data via mobile phone. By hitting a system- provided link, the individual using it may firmly prevent the water’s flow within the field. While carried out, the system will assist landowners to preserve suitable soil water and moisture levels, thus boosting yields with little work. The goal of this article is to identify grow illnesses and reduce losses in money. For picture appeal, we suggested an entirely based on deep learning method. We put the three most common Neural Network Designs to the test: Faster Region-based entirely judgment (SVM)Support Vector Machine Region-based entirely (RF) Random Forest method. The method suggested in the research can correctly detect many types of disease and is capable of dealing in complicated situations. In addition, the method may be expanded to recommend fertilizer according to extent evaluation as well as measurement. artificial intelligence (AI) entirely Machine Learning Response to this the combination the issue is a supervised categorization judgment.

Background: Agriculture sector is one of the prime and widely spread sectors. So to make it autonomous and increase its yield, we require a major technological improvement. The only solution to make advancement is with the use of wireless sensor networks. Internet of Things in this field is used to provide connectivity to all real-time sensors and to collect that data in computer-based systems without human involvement. Objective: IoT based system is used to monitor physical and environmental conditions of the agriculture field through a network of wireless sensor. Here, a novel ultra-wideband Dielectric Resonator antenna is designed that is used in Wi-Fi for transmission of data received from sensors. The antenna designed should be easy to fabricate and compact in size and should provide high data rates. The complete designed system should be reliable and cost effective one. Method: A proposed IoT based system monitors physical and environmental conditions using a wireless sensor network consisting of power supply, soil moisture sensor (FC-28), humidity sensor (LM-35), temperature sensor (HR-202), water level sensor, ARM 7 processor, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Relay, motor and Wi-Fi module that is installed at remote locations and connected to the main system comprises of a novel ultra-wideband Dielectric Resonator antenna. Results: The designed WSN based IoT system for agriculture application monitors temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and water level in the field. For Wi-Fi module implementation ultra-wideband inverted sigmoid shaped DRA is designed that provides an impedance bandwidth of 36.46 % at 6.226 GHz (5.51 - 7.78 GHz). The designed antenna provides a peak gain of 5.44 dB at a resonant frequency of 6.226 GHz. Conclusion: The proposed IoT based system is used to monitors physical and environmental conditions like soil moisture, humidity, temperature and water level and sends the data through Wi-Fi module comprising of an ultra-wideband Dielectric Resonator antenna. The designed antenna is compact and can be easily fabricated using printed circuit board technology. The complete system is cost-effective and can be easily implemented.