Next-gen tree planting tracker's global rolloutFriday 9 May 2025
STA Explorer devices will be sent to select partners across Australia, New Zealand, South America, and North America beginning mid-2025, ahead of a broader commercial release in the fourth quarter. One of the first to trial the STA Explorer in the field will be Uruguay-based forestry company Montes del Plata, whose use of the original STA logger has already helped reshape their approach to planting accountability. The original STA logger has already seen widespread uptake across the forestry and conservation sectors, focusing on herbicide application. Its lightweight form factor and ability to be attached to a variety of tools—without requiring any modifications—have made it a popular choice for recording precise movements in the field. The STA Explorer retains that same versatility. Whether mounted to a spraying lance or attached to a planting shovel, it moves fluidly between workflows, capturing activity across operations without interruption. For forestry companies tracking replanting or regeneration compliance, this flexibility is especially valuable. But the STA Explorer goes further—packing in hardware upgrades and sensing capabilities specifically tuned to the nuances of tree planting. One of the headline features of the STA Explorer is the integration of an onboard accelerometer designed to automatically detect tree planting actions. This sensor-based recognition allows workers to operate as normal—without pushing buttons or logging points manually—while the device accurately marks each planting event. To address an important pain point in digital planting records, the STA Explorer includes a built-in safeguard: when multiple planting motions are detected within close proximity, it flags the subsequent entries as “retries.” These typically indicate a replanting of the same hole due to a failed attempt, and the system avoids double-counting them as separate trees. For plantation companies seeking to ensure both coverage and accuracy, this layer of intelligence adds critical value. Data collected by the device is stored locally and processed later, allowing for full offline operation—a feature particularly important for remote forestry sites where connectivity is limited or non-existent. Another major leap in the STA Explorer platform is the introduction of a high-accuracy variant. While one model will offer the same dependable positioning as the original logger, the second will support post-processed kinematic (PPK) workflows using national base station infrastructure (when available). This allows forestry operators to refine GPS tracks to sub-foot accuracy—or even to within centimetres in certain environments. More >> Source & image credit: TerraLab | ||
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