Mapping invasive plants using drone imagery

A partnership project between Sunshine Coast Council and QUT has been awarded $240,000 through an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship grant to develop a proven framework for classifying and mapping invasive plant species using drone-collected imagery.

Sunshine Coast Council's Invasive Weeds Project Officer Melissa Hele said the grant would will build upon learnings from previous research, further exploring and testing the use of AI for plant identification in natural systems.

"The initial proof of concept trial was undertaken for broad leaf pepper mapping research, partnering with QUT and Aspect UAV," Ms Hele said.

"This grant was awarded through Advance Queensland, with support from the Invasive Weeds Project funded through the Sunshine Coast Environment Levy.

"It will allow us to continue to push the boundaries with our invasive species research and enable us to trial this technology on camphor laurel, cat’s claw creeper and madeira vine - which are all challenging species for surveillance and mapping in our environment."

Dr Vanegas Alvarez, from QUT’s School of Electrical Engineering & Robotics and QUT Centre for Robotics, said his research project would identify the most appropriate protocols for aerial and ground data collection and the best AI models for each species and site.

“Invasive plants have negative effects on agriculture and farming, damage existing infrastructure, and in some cases cause irreversible damage to unique ecosystems,” Dr Vanegas Alvarez said.

“My industry partner, the Sunshine Coast Council is committed to using innovative technologies to better understand the extent of invasive plants, how they spread and their effects on ecosystems to inform on-ground decisions.

“Land managers are faced with decline in resources, time and funding, increasing population and climate variability so they are turning to technology to help identify and map key species.”

Dr Vanegas Alvarez is working with industry partner, drone operator Aspect UAV Imaging to develop a standardised methodology to survey and collect data, detect different species and then map vegetation using aerial imagery.

“Fine detail and high-resolution mapping of vegetation and weed species are required to understand and assess the environmental impact and support decision-making,” he said.

“Species classification in natural environments is challenging owing to high floristic and spectral diversity, as well as a mix of light in pixels reflected by multiple species.

“However, drones equipped with ultra-high resolution, visible-light (RGB), multispectral (MS) cameras, and high-precision global positioning systems can capture imagery over 4ha of land in one flight.

“Their high resolution enables us to distinguish individual leaves and patterns of plants and multispectral cameras capture light reflected by plants in wavelengths outside the visible spectrum for humans.”

Dr Vanegas Alvarez said camphor laurel, cat’s claw creeper and Madeira vine were among the Sunshine Coast targeted invasive species.

“Camphor laurel is replacing native blue gums, threatening koala populations and can damage infrastructure such as fences, powerlines, drains and concrete structures,” he said.

“Cat’s claw creeper can smother native vegetation including trees and its vigorous root and tuber system makes it difficult to control while Madeira vine covers and smothers trees and can grow up to one metre a week.

“Our proposed georeferenced, high-resolution mapping could be combined with other geographical features such as creeks, transport corridors to understand how these species spread and the potential vectors that allow their proliferation.

“Our higher level of understanding can enable better informed, decision-making and increase the effective use of resources to manage and control infestations.”