r/gis•
Pahsaek

How would I use mapped tree data to identify abandoned orchards?

General Question

For several years, I've been working on a project to locate and identify abandoned apple orchards for lost varieties. Typically one in fifty early 20c. orchards has surviving trees, and maybe only 10% of the original number planted will be standing still. I collect leaf samples, have them DNA tested, and return to any trees that don't return matches.

Identifying old orchard sites with surviving trees is the tedious part. I have to either start with the 1930 aerial, and compare to modern imagery to see if old trees are still surviving, or I look for patterns on Google Maps and then refer to the 1930 aerials to see if it matches up with an old orchard. I can pretty easily recognize apples from modern satellite imagery based on color, silouette, spacing, etc., even imagery from winter months, but because it’s a manual process, it takes me years to do this across an entire state, and I still miss a few important ones. Is there any sort of AI tool I could use to find orchards I might have missed?

Posted Jul 27, 2024, 10:29 PM UTC

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