SEILAPLAN, a QGIS Plugin for Cable Road Layout Design


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Date

2022

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

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Abstract

Cable-based technologies have been the backbone of forest management and harvesting on steep slopes for decades. The design of a cable road is a complex task. It essentially comprises the identification of the start and end points of a cable road, as well as the intermediate supports. With the aim of simplifying this design process, we developed a semi-automated cable road design tool (QGIS plugin SEILAPLAN) that is easy and intuitive to use. SEILAPLAN is based on mechanical assumptions for the structural analysis that are "close-to-reality", contains an algorithm that checks all possible intermediate support combinations and automatically identifies the optimal solution, and integrates tools and geodata within a GIS application. We present its main components and present an example of application. The integration into a GIS program, the implemented cable mechanics, and the associated information for the construction of a cable road were highly appreciated by the users.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

43 (2)

Pages / Article No.

241 - 255

Publisher

Forestry Faculty of Zagreb University

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

cable road design; cable yarder; forest harvesting; forest management; standing skyline

Organisational unit

Notes

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