Feasibility study for development of an accessible UAV-based Tree Health Management Platform: Ash Dieback

白蜡树枯背病（ADD）是一种对白蜡树，特别是英国本土白蜡树，普通白蜡树（_Fraxinus excelsior_）具有高度破坏性的病害。它是由一种名为fraxineus_ （_H）的真菌引起的。原产于东亚的黄栌属植物。ADD也被称为“Chalara”，这可以区别于由其他病原体引起的白蜡树枯死（Forest Research）。ADD于2012年在英国首次被发现，预计最终将导致英国80%的白蜡树死亡，预计成本为150亿英镑，未来10年的估计成本为76亿英镑（Hill et al., 2019）。林地信托基金（2021）报告称，只有7%的英国本土林地处于良好的生态状况。在英国，条件差的特点是“管理不当”。林地和树木健康状况不佳威胁到林业生产力和经济价值、生物多样性和生态系统服务，以及林地安全储存和固碳的能力，破坏了实现净零排放的进展，侵蚀了人们对碳抵消计划的信心和安全性。烟灰还为英国各地生产烟灰的种植者提供了重要的商业收入来源。白蜡树木材坚固、耐用、灵活、有吸引力，具有广泛的实用和装饰用途，如工具手柄、地板、家具和细木工。由于其几乎完全耐冲击的性质，白蜡树木材对制造划桨、运动球拍和hurley杆等体育用品也很重要。作为英格兰最有用、用途最广的本土树种之一，白蜡树为各种依赖物种提供了宝贵的栖息地。它生长在各种土壤和气候条件下。其叶子的“通风”性质允许光线穿透林地，鼓励地面植物和动物。一些昆虫、其他无脊椎动物、地衣和苔藓完全依赖白蜡树作为栖息地。该项目将采用农业技术领域的新兴技术。利用这些专门的传感器测量树冠的反射光，可以估计树冠的生理和结构。通过将这些信息与ADD的专家知识相结合，我们可以建立ADD和其他树木疾病的预测模型。该项目将研究如何将这些模型与决策支持系统相结合，为英格兰白蜡树的管理提供信息，开发一种经济实惠的解决方案，使小型林地所有者在识别疾病侵扰方面受益，使他们能够采取积极的干预措施。

Ash Dieback Disease (ADD) is a highly destructive disease of Ash trees, especially England's native Ash species, common Ash (_Fraxinus excelsior_). It is caused by a fungus named _Hymenoscyphus fraxineus_ (_H. fraxineus_), which is of eastern Asian origin. ADD is also known as 'Chalara', which can distinguish it from dieback on Ash trees caused by other agents (Forest Research). ADD was first detected in the UK in 2012 and is forecast to eventually kill 80% of UK ash trees, at a predicted cost of £15bn, with £7.6 billion being the estimate for the next 10 years (Hill et al., 2019).The Woodland Trust (2021) reports that only 7% of UK native woodlands are in good ecological condition. In England, poor condition is characterised by "inappropriate management." Poor woodland and tree health threatens forestry productivity and economic value, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and the ability of woodland to securely store and sequester carbon, undermining progress towards net zero and eroding the confidence in and security of carbon offsetting schemes.Ash also provides an important commercial revenue stream to the growers who produce Ash across the UK. Ash timber is strong, durable, flexible, and attractive, with a wide range of practical and decorative uses such as tool handles, flooring, furniture and joinery It is also important for the making of sports goods, such as rowing oars, sporting bats and hurley sticks, due to its almost entirely shock resistant nature.As one of England's most useful and versatile native tree species, Ash provides valuable habitat for a wide range of dependent species. It grows in a variety of soils and climatic conditions. The 'airy' nature of its foliage allows light to penetrate to the woodland floor, encouraging ground plants and fauna. Several insects, other invertebrates, lichens, and mosses depend wholly on Ash for habitat.Emerging technology from the agri-tech sector will be deployed in the project. The physiology and structure of tree canopies can be estimated by measuring the reflected light with these specialist sensors. By combining this information with expert knowledge of ADD, we can produce predictive models of ADD and other tree diseases. This project will investigate how these models are integrated with decision support systems for informing management of England's Ash trees, developing an affordable solution to benefit smaller woodland owners in identify disease infestation, to allow them to take proactive intervention measures.