Is measuring trees in google street useful

[Marcus B-T]

I have developed a way of measuring trees and other things in google street view but is this useful? Or just a bit of fun?

[Xerxses]

I'm currently co developing a Tree-survey application for the androidplatform with googlemaps as gis-maps. The company is looking into the possibility to do parts of the surveys from google streetmaps so your app could come handy...

[William]

I would find it useful when checking a highway tree involved in subsidence. I would need north east south west for a development survey. Sounds like progress and potentially useful in some situations - do you have any in mind?

[monkeypuzzle22]

Its already been done!My company in the last few days have been putting together a piece ofsoftware that can be used in conjunction with arb survey programmes. We use Arborcura, developed by TEP. The google street maps overlay the OS maps and provide real time data etc...all over my head the development side of things!

[Marcus B-T]

The option of using os maps as the reference point is interesting but you then rely on a new mapping device and the accuracy of the maps. The solution i have come up with just uses simple image analysis so can work alongside existing mapping software. But is being able to measure height, dbh, canopy spread from google street useful to anyone?

[Paul Barton]

It would be useful in a limited way - as a preliminary look at a tree that you are going to inspect....but at the end of the day you always need to get there in person and inspect it properly. Google images are often a few years old anyway.

 

To be honest I am not sure I would make use of it.

[RobRainford]

Google street view images are from 2009 so you can only get basic information. But I do find it useful.

[monkeypuzzle22]

I thought that you could simply use a GIS to obtain co-ordinates of trees and then directly (manually) input them into Google earth and it would place a marker on the map demonstrating the position of the tree?

 

Alternatively convert your shape files, from whatever programme you use (Arbortrack, Arborcura etc), into a KML file???and then over lay onto Google maps?

 

Hmmmmm....

[Marcus B-T]

I was thinking about measuring the crown and stem and then comparing the historical data to current data, i.e. how have the trees changed, has work been carried out, how significant is the tree in the landscape that kind of thing. You can adapt How Big Is This? to measure data from Google street, which you can compare to the data captured with it in the present, but the question is still; is it useful?