Measure Your Forest with Precision

Arboreal Forest: The ultimate app for measuring all forest parameters

Diameter—Basal Area—Trees per hectare—Volume—Height—Tree species

2.5x Faster

Measure forest parameters quicker than traditional methods

Sub-cm Accuracy

Achieve sub-centimeter accuracy in your measurements

Best Mobile App

Tested in peer-reviewed journal and awarded best mobile app for forest measurements

Benefits of using Arboreal Forest:

  • Your measuring tools are at always with you
  • Good accuracy
  • You get the result immediately
  • All the data is stored in the cloud
  • No extra reference tools or sticks are needed
  • You will recognize the method if you have been measuring a forest before
  • You have full control
  • Skip paper and pen and avoid extra work
  • Works offline
Download on the App Store
Arboreal Forest App Screenshot
New feature

Prism plots – variable radius plots

Arboreal Forest can now measure variable radius plots, also called prism plots or angle-count sampling. It is a fast way to survey a stand when you mainly want the basal area per hectare.

How does it work?

The camera works as a digital prism. Hold the phone over the plot centre and walk around it, so that the phone – the prism – stays at the centre while you count the trees all the way around. In the prism view the trunk is split and shifted – if the two parts still overlap, the tree is counted. Large trees are counted further away than small ones, so the plot radius varies with the tree size. That is why it matters that the prism, not you, is at the plot centre.
Tap the tree species to count a tree, and mark trees that are on the border. The compass shows where you have already counted trees, so that no tree is missed or counted twice. The number of counted trees and the basal area per hectare (m²/ha) are updated as you go, based on the basal area factor (BAF) you have chosen.

Why use prism plots?

  • Fast – you do not need to measure every tree inside a fixed radius
  • No prism, relascope, measuring tape, caliper or height meter to carry – your phone is enough
  • The method gives good estimates of the basal area per hectare, also per tree species
  • Measure several plots and you get an estimate of the uncertainty of the result
We have not yet evaluated how accurate prism plots in the app are. The accuracy results further down on this page apply to fixed radius plots.
Watch the video to see how a prism plot is done in the app: How to do a prism plot
Prism plot in Arboreal Forest: the digital prism view with counted trees, compass and basal area per hectare

How accurate is the result?

The results below apply to fixed radius sample plots. We do not yet have any data on how accurate prism plots are.
We have tested the application in different forests and we are comfortable with the result. The most deviations are within two centimeters. The bias is very low and that means a good estimate of the total volume, trees per ha, and basal area. The largest error occurs when you place the sample plots. The plots should be spread out systematically over the whole forest. To get a good estimate of the forest, you should place a lot of sample plots.
ParameterError (MAE)Bias
Area1 %0.3 %
Diameter / tree3.9 %0.67 %
Basal area / tree7.7 %0.5 %
Height0.9 %0.3 %
This is data from our own evaluation. If you want to know how it was done you could open this link.
Arboreal Forest has been evaluated in a Master thesis by Lisa Lindberg at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2020. The version of the app that was evaluated did not use the Lidar sensor that was released the same year. Link
Sveaskog evaluated the app in a report 2021: Arboreal Forest Evaluation Sveaskog
A scientific study compared three different mobile applications: Arboreal Forest, Katam, and Trestima in 2023. Arboreal Forest was superior to the other two apps because of the superior accuracy of diameter and trees / hectare. Link
The diameter measurement for Arboreal Forest has been compared to manual measurements in an article published in 2024. The Arboreal Forest had sub centimeter accuracy. Link
Our own evaluations of diameter are gathered here, where you can see different versions and methods and compare the results. Link

How do I start using it?

The app is available on App Store
You could test all features for free. If you want to continue using the app you could subscribe per week or month.
You will always have access to your measurements even after you discontinue the subscription.
Payments are done in the app.
We offer some extra features for companies that makes it easier to use the app for companies and organizations.
We offer a Rest-API that lets you download the data from the companies members.
Please contact us for more information.

What our users say about the app:

Testimonial from Bogdan Candrea

This technology has enabled us to bring a new level of precision and efficiency to the assesment of forest resources, contributing to the protection and responsible management of our forests.

Bogdan Candrea

CEO, Forest Design SRL

Testimonial from Guilherme Fonseca

The technology presents an extremely high accuracy and a very easy measurement method. We measured the diameter of 10 236 trees and the systematic error was less than 1 mm

Guilherme Fonseca

Forest Engineer, Suzano

Testimonial from Sara Branden

The biggest advantage is that the measurements I make in the forest are much smoother and go faster. I get summary and compiled data to interpret directly in the app, which is great! Arboreal is also very user-friendly.

Sara Branden

Area Manager, Sveaskog

Arboreal Forest Videos

Arboreal Forest - Fixed Plot Tutorial

This is the basic tutorial for the app Arboreal Forest. It shows how to measure a fixed radius sample plot in the forest.

Arboreal Forest - How to do a Prism Plot

A prism plot, or variable radius plot, is a fast way to measure the forest. The phone works as a prism and is held over the plot centre while you count the trees that are wide enough in relation to their distance from the centre. The method is quick and gives good estimates of the basal area. You do not need a measuring tape, caliper or height meter, and if you measure several plots you also get an estimate of the uncertainty of the result.

Forest Design - experiences from the field

Forest Design is a Romanian Forest technology company that are using many digital tools to survey forests. They are also using the app Arboreal Forest to measure fixed radius sample plots.

Frequently Asked Questions

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