First introduced in 2020, SouthPAN (Southern Positioning Augmentation Network) is now a core part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute’s forestry workflows. The Institute is using SouthPAN to support forestry mapping, inventory, pest monitoring and operational decision-making in challenging field conditions.
By integrating SouthPAN’s enhanced positioning, the Institute has been able to:
- reduce equipment costs by using SouthPAN L1 SBAS instead of more expensive positioning systems
- improve productivity in challenging forest conditions compared with standalone GPS
- enhance accuracy and quality of field data captured by forestry crews
- standardise precise data capture across a broader range of applications and workflows
- reduce time in the field, cutting point acquisition from around three minutes to just 20 to 30 seconds
- collect data three to five times faster, making final location information available to researchers sooner.
These improvements not only lower operational costs but also provide researchers with timely, reliable data to support sustainable forestry practices.
SouthPAN, jointly delivered by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand and Geoscience Australia, is enhancing GNSS accuracy for industries across New Zealand and Australia.
Learn more about how the Institute is applying this technology: Case study: Faster, more accurate forestry data capture with SouthPAN.
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