In+ersec+ion for Spatial People

Via Datalibre, I learned about OpenTreeMap, an open source software for collaborative, geography-enabled urban tree inventory.

From the main site: "Urban street trees have myriad proven benefits for communities including providing shade, improving air quality, assisting with stormwater runoff, raising property values, decreasing utility bills, and enhancing the look and feel of communities. While tree inventories provide municipalities with vital data to consult when managing the urban forest, creating a complete inventory is a time consuming and resource intensive process.  OpenTreeMap provides an easy-to-use public inventorying platform that enables individuals, organizations, and governments to collaboratively contribute to an interactive and dynamic map of a community’s tree population. OpenTreeMap can be used in a single municipality or cover a broader geographic region with many communities.

Main Features:

• Search for trees by species, location, or advanced filters such as diameter, date planted, or tree characteristics (flowering, native, etc.)
• Add trees individually or load tree datasets to the system
• Edit and add information about existing tree records including species name, location, height, plot size and type, conditions, actions needed, funding sources, data owner
• Upload tree photos
• Export tree lists as KML or CSV files
• Automatically calculate ecosystem benefits (greenhouse gas, water, energy,  air quality) based on a tree’s species and diameter
• Monitor user accounts, comments, and system edits
• Get optional integrated tree key to assist in identifying tree species"

Geocoded trees have been mentioned a few times in the past, including Google Earth 6's native support of 3D trees, using lidar to identify urban trees, or even embedding RFID tags in trees.