Open Foris — FAO’s Open‑Source Forest Monitoring Suite

Open Foris is a suite of open‑source tools developed by the FAO to support forest monitoring, land‑use analysis, and MRV systems for climate reporting (REDD+, Article 6.2, NDCs).

It is the global reference for governments building transparent, auditable forest monitoring systems.

What Open Foris provides

  • National‑scale satellite analysis (Sentinel, Landsat, Planet)

  • Forest change detection (deforestation, degradation, reforestation)

  • Field inventory management (tree measurements, plots, biomass)

  • Carbon stock estimation with uncertainty calculations

  • Full MRV workflow: Measurement → Reporting → Verification

Key modules

  • SEPAL — Cloud geospatial processing, classification, change detection

  • Collect — Field data collection (mobile + desktop)

  • Calc — Carbon and statistical analysis

  • GROUND — High‑resolution field mapping

Why it matters for Waterships

  • Fully open source and sovereign

  • Recognized by FAO, UNFCCC, World Bank

  • Perfectly aligned with Article 6.2, ITMOs, and MRV+

  • Integrates natively into Seahorse Manager as the backbone of national MRV

 

ImageJ — Scientific Image Analysis for Tree Counting

ImageJ is an open‑source scientific image analysis platform developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is one of the most powerful tools for segmentation, object detection, and quantitative analysis on high‑resolution images.

What ImageJ provides

  • Tree crown detection on drone orthomosaics

  • Automatic tree counting using segmentation workflows

  • Measurement of canopy area, density, and health indicators

  • Plugin ecosystem for machine learning, NDVI, multispectral analysis

  • Batch processing for large drone datasets

Why it matters for Waterships

  • Essential for reforestation monitoring

  • Produces tree‑level metrics required for MRV+

  • Integrates seamlessly into Seahorse Manager as the drone‑analysis engine

  • Complements Open Foris (satellite + field) with high‑resolution ground truth

 

How they work together inside Seahorse Manager

ComponentRoleData TypeSeahorse Manager Function
Open ForisSatellite + field MRVSentinel, Landsat, field plotsNational MRV, carbon, Article 6.2
ImageJDrone‑based tree analysisOrthomosaicsTree counting, survival, QC
Seahorse ManagerOrchestration + dashboardsAll sourcesMRV+, ITMOs, reporting
 
 
 
 
 

Together, they form a complete sovereign MRV ecosystem for Waterships.

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