Two companies with expertise in vegetation management, Satelytics, a leader in automated cloud-based geospatial analytics, and ACRT Pacific, a utility vegetation management (UVM) company that provides comprehensive utility solutions on the West Coast, teamed up for a pilot project to validate and analyze high-resolution 50cm resolution Pléiades 1A/1B satellite imagery to identify individual trees at risk of striking electric transmission and distribution lines in California.

ACRT Pacific leveraged Satelytics’ vegetation encroachment algorithms to identify a staggering 57,000 trees that posed a strike risk to electric lines in an area covering only 10 square kilometers. ACRT Pacific then validated the accuracy of the results with its teams of experienced utility vegetation arborist inspectors. Fieldwork confirmed that by using an AI-based process, the team was able to pinpoint trees that exhibited the potential to strike the lines. Using stereo pair imagery at the optimal time and angle of collection resulted in up to 90 percent accuracy in these alerts. 

“The primary advantage of using satellite imagery in this analysis is immediacy,” said Brian Joiner, President of ACRT Pacific. “This provides actionable intelligence quicker than traditional field crews or airborne LiDAR. By prioritizing trees with condition changes, it alerts pre-inspectors, allowing workers to promptly verify trees requiring attention on the ground.” 

Joiner explained that summer storms are a significant threat to transmission operations. During hot days, when electricity demand is high, the combination of outside temperature and power load makes the lines sag out of their normal orientation. Add in high winds, and the lines start to sway, potentially contacting vegetation that otherwise might be out of their safe buffer proximity. The calculations also take into account the swaying of the trees in windy conditions. 

The Satelytics AI algorithms can identify dangers down to the individual tree level through analysis of 50 cm resolution stereo pairs captured by the Pléiades 1A/1B satellites. Satelytics has made a leap forward with its algorithm to predict more nuanced potential dangers with change detection and changes in tree health. 

“The stakes in safeguarding utility infrastructure cannot be overstated,” said Sean Donegan, president and CEO of Satelytics. “The potential liability associated with a vegetation-related wildfire - whether the loss of life or damage to assets - is measured in billions of dollars. These high-resolution satellite imagery as well as spatial and location data, can precisely pinpoint these trees, with fieldwork conducted by ACRT confirming a remarkable 90% accuracy rate.

"Power outages, wildfires, infrastructure damage, and more can all be caused by one neglected tree — you only need to miss one to cause a disaster," Donegan continued. "Satelytics' AI-enhanced geospatial analytics provides an immediacy that was previously unthinkable, automatically flagging events and keeping assets and surrounding communities safe in the process.”

ACRT Pacific worked with Satelytics in developing and refining vegetation management algorithms to a level of sophistication unmatched in the market today. Remotely sensed data, often imagery or LiDAR point clouds, has commonly been used to find tree branches that have extended into the buffer zone around electric lines. These data sets also help to identify trees that have grown tall enough to strike a line if they were to fall and identify trees that will encroach the compliance zone if not mitigated. 

These AI algorithms can also identify dangers down to the individual tree level through analysis of 50 cm resolution stereo pairs captured by the Pléiades 1A/1B satellites. Satelytics’ algorithms can also predict more nuanced potential dangers with change detection and changes in tree health. 

The implications of this pilot project are significant for the UVM industry at large. Field workers will now be able to save time during routine inspections by focusing on those trees that have already been tagged as problems. This increased efficiency represents a major breakthrough for an industry whose efforts are integral to maintaining the country's utility infrastructure.

Joiner said that field crews won’t be replaced by this method, but instead, make these teams more efficient during their site visits.