Aerial tree map helping reduce flood risk in Cardiff

A aerial map of trees in Cardiff is helping the local council reduce the risk of surface water flooding.

The National Tree Map created by Bluesky International, provides accurate height, location and canopy coverage data for more than 400 million trees across the UK.

Cardiff Council is using intelligence from the maps, combined with data detailing the location of Cardiff's highways drainage gullies to prioritise cleansing and street sweeping programmes in areas most at risk of blocked drains from fallen leaves.

The Council currently has responsibility for around 100,000 highway gullies, or drains  which are designed to drain rainwater, and other surface run off, into a drainage system where it can be conveyed to an appropriate discharge point.

The National Tree Map has captured data of trees 3 metres and taller in the Cardiff area. Using the open-source Geographical Information System QGIS, to compare the proximity of trees and gullies, close to 5,000 or five percent of gullies were deemed to be at risk of leaf fall.

The data is also being used for arboriculturists to plan maintenance work for protected trees and inform planting strategies for parks and urban forestry.

Cabinet member for climate change, Cllr Caro Wild, said: "As Cardiff experiences increasingly extreme weather as a result of climate change, surface water flooding poses a growing risk, and this is a simple but highly effective way of using location-based intelligence to achieve operational benefits."

Image by Greg Montani from Pixabay