Smart Forest Laboratory 2024

Prof. Larry Lopez

The laboratory of Smart Forest in the Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University conducts research on the relation of forest ecosystems with their surrounding environment by means of a multidisciplinary approach that involves soil science, meteorology, hydrology and precise remote sensing. The central part of this approach is the use of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Technology and Deep Learning in order to create more reliable and easy to use forest monitoring systems. Our main aim is to understand the impact of environmental factors on forest ecosystems and the resilience forests have to withstand and adapt to changes in environment and climate. We invite you to join our laboratory to do research with us in Japan and discover the world. You will learn the skills to be a professional of a global society in an international and multidisciplinary educational environment. 

Ph.D. Students

Nhung Tran

Vietnam

Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University (M.Sc.), Nhungs research is focused on the evaluation of biodiversity indexes using UAV-images of vegetation in an altitudinal gradient in subalpine areas of northeastern Japan.

Tobias Leidemer

Germany

Graduated from landscape Sciences (M.Sc.), Leibniz University Hannover. Tobias' research is focused on developing a DL Model using pixel count to evaluate the degree of damage of fir trees affected by bark beetles in Japan and Italy.

Sarangerel Jarantaibaatar

Mongolia

Graduated from Mongolian University of Life Science (M.Sc.). Sarangerel" research is focused on assessing patterns of forest regeneration in wildfire disturbed forests in northern Mongolia using Precise Remote Sensing.

Peiheng Wu

China

Graduated from the Double Degree Program between YU-LUH (M.Sc.). Peihengs' research is focused on the assessment of environmental drivers controlling the dynamics of treelines in mountains of northeastern Japan. Her research site is the Ou Mountain Range.

Anna Trigubenko

Russia

Graduated from Russian State Hydrometeorological University in the field of Environmental Monitoring. Anna"s research focuses on understanding the climate conditions leading to forest decline in the treeline using Isotopes and tree-ring analysis.

Tien Nguyen

Vietnam

Graduated from Ho Chi Minh International University in the field of Remote Sensing. Tien is now studying the use of Deep Learning Models to automatically identify tree species in a typical temperate mixed forests in northeastern Japan.

Leonardo Silvestre

Peru

Graduated from Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in the field of Software Development. Leonardo is developing algorithms that can enhance the quality of satellite images using DL models trained with UAV images.

Vladislav Bukin

Russia

Graduated from Russian State Hydrometeorological University in the field of Environmental Monitoring. Vladislav"s research focuses on understanding tree phenology in mixed forests using NDVI calculated from UAV multispectral images.

Sergi Garcia

Spain

Graduated at the University of Lleida in Spain in the field of forestry. Sergi is studying the use of algorithms to automatically estimate tree density and biomass from UAV-images of larch plantations in Koiwai Noujo Iwate, Japan Prefecture.

Shiful Islam

Bangladesh

Shiful’s study aims to predict soil properties through the integration of satellite and UAV imagery with soil spectroscopy. It focuses on the development of advanced, data-driven models to assess soil health and spatial variability.

Burmaa Chuluunbat

Mongolia

Burmaa studies deals with the identification, mapping and evaluation of UAV-applied pesticides on gypsy moth infested larch trees using UAV-generated NDVI.

Master Students

Inke Luedersen

Germany

Graduated from Geography at Leibniz University Hannover. Inke is now in the DD Program (LUH/YU) and her study deals with evaluating the resilience of coastal forests affected by the Mega Tsunami of 2011.

Iqbal Faishal

Indonesia

Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Gadjha Mada University. Iqbal is dealing with the effect of UAV flying patterns on automatic identification of vegetation using Deep Learning Models in complex forest ecosystems in Mountains.

Jayani Jeewanthika

Sri Lanka

Graduated from the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo in the field of statistics. Jayani is working at applying statistical models to imagery and Meteorological data in Zao Mountains in order to understand forests' response to extreme events.

Fabian Gensicke 

Germany

Graduated from Landscape Sciences at Leibniz University Hannover. Fabian is now in the DD Program (LUH/YU) and his study is understanding the ecosystem services of Zao Mountains for the local inhabitants and the visitors.

Friederich Blum

Germany

Friederich is a DD students from LUH. His study is focused on quantifying C stocks in Mixed Forests using UAV and AI Technology. He has experimented with new UAV flight patterns for an improved forest 3D images outcome.

Victoria Vera Galindo

Peru

Meteorologist from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina. Her study examines the relationship between climatic variables and vegetation indices across altitudinal gradients to identify stress responses.

Kouhei Unno

Japan

Kohei is a first year Master student. His research topic is related to the difference of vegetation index (NDVI) of two typical tree species in Japan growing under the same environmental conditions.

Alessandro Foglio

Italy

Graduated from Forest and Environmental Sciences at Torino University. Alessandro is in the DD Program (UNITO/YU) and his study is understanding how tree lines are moving in Japanese Mountains.

Alberto Porporato

Italy

Graduated in Forestry and Environmental Sciences at Torino University. Alberto is now in the DD Program (UNITO/YU) and his study focus on some factors which characterize the snowpack (snow depth and SWE) and their variations due to climate change.

Francesco Marcosano Alessio

Italy

Graduated from University of Turin in 2024. Currently enrolled in the DD Program (UNITO/YU). His research topic will be the changes in the treelines of Japanese mountain and which factor drives these changes with the using of drones and ortophotos.

Giacomo Corda

Italy

Graduated from University of Turin in the faculty of Agrarian science medicine. Enrolled at Yamagata university for a DD Program (UNITO/YU). His research is focused on the implementation of UAVs for fruit tree diagnostic

Federico Giovanni Nicola

Italy

Graduated from Torino University. Currently enrolled in agricultural science at Yamagata university for a DD Program (UNITO/YU) and his study focus on some aspects of the fruit trees physiology starting from data collected by UAV’s.

Antonia Hofmann

Germany

Antonia is a DD student from LUH and her study is related to the use of computer vision to evaluate tree species distribution in complex mixed forests.

Du Guotao

China

Master Student at Henan University, he is in our laboratory doing an internship for one semester. His major is soil nutrient cycling and forest fire management. He will be working with us to develop the use of drones in forest management.

Undergraduate Students

Watanabe Yusei

Japan

Yusei is interested in the estimation of tree biomass in a coastal forest of eastern Japan, that was severely disturbed by the 2011 Tsunami.

Tanishima Ko

Japan

Ko is using aquatic plant distribution evaluated from UAV-acquired images to understand insect patterns in small lakes.

Watanabe Itsuki

Japan

Itsuki is interested in comparing differences in tree species composition of mixed forests in an altitudinal gradient.