The Karlstad story: Reinventing urban tree management with Arboair

Arboair stepped in with its AI-driven image analysis solution. Using drone, satellite and aerial imagery, Arboair provided Karlstad with a fast, accurate and comprehensive tree inventory. The results were transformative: more than 36,000 trees across nine districts, on both municipal and private land, were surveyed quickly. This process significantly reduced both the cost and the time compared with traditional methods.

Beyond the basic inventory, Arboair's analysis delivered high-precision mapping of tree damage, enabling proactive risk management — a decisive factor for public safety and infrastructure protection. As a city planner in Karlstad noted, information about the canopy layer is invaluable for understanding how urban development projects affect tree cover and key metrics. An arborist also emphasised how the damage map enables more efficient planning of pruning and felling directly from the office, saving time and ensuring targeted action.

In addition, Arboair's data helped Karlstad establish a baseline for reaching the "3-30-300" targets, a principle that promotes urban greenery for improved public health and well-being. This comprehensive data provides individual-level insight for strategic and operational management, along with aggregated data for sustainable urban planning.

The Karlstad case study exemplifies the power of AI and remote sensing in urban tree management. Arboair's solution offers:

• Cost efficiency: Drastically reduced dependence on expensive manual inventory methods, demonstrated by their price of SEK 18 per tree compared with the traditional SEK 150–500 per tree.

• Precise insight: Tree-level data for informed decision-making and optimal resource management.

• Scalability: Flexible, region-adapted analysis for both smallholders and large forest companies.

• Sustainability: Improved planning for biodiversity, conservation and regulatory compliance, contributing to the overall value of urban trees, which includes economic growth, air and water purification, stress reduction, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

Arboair handles the entire flow, from data collection by drone, aircraft or satellite, through processing and analysis with its AI models, and finally exporting the data into your existing systems.

The success in Karlstad is proof of Arboair's commitment to reinventing tree management. As Markus Drugge, CEO of Arboair, puts it: "We work with municipalities to help them manage tree data and gain insights that lead to sustainable decisions." The municipality of Karlstad is even willing to act as a reference for specific questions.

This case study highlights how Arboair's innovative approach gives cities the tools to manage their urban forests effectively, mitigate risk and improve the well-being of their citizens.