Many types of forest damage are expected to increase in Finland as the climate becomes warmer. The spruce bark beetle is cause for particular concern. It is a bark beetle that is about half a centimetre long that threatens spruce trees. The Metsäverkko map data helps identify spruce bark beetle damage at an early stage, meaning that the trees affected by the insect can be harvested and utilised economically, as they have not yet died.
The map shows areas with potential insect damage
The application that visualises areas at risk of insect damage is based on artificial intelligence, machine learning and open remote sensing data. These enable the detection of stress-related changes in the forest caused by drought or storms, for example. A forest suffering from stress is prone to insect damage.
Based on observations, the application produces digital map material predicting the severity and scope of damage caused by the spruce bark beetle. The map material is updated several times each summer. The forest owner thus gets an up-to-date idea of the damage risk. The app also shows the time when the damage started.
The application is used by Metsä Group's wood supply personnel and Metsä Group's owner-members. It was developed with CollectiveCrunch, a company applying artificial intelligence.