Vodafone has partnered with the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forest Research, a leading organisation for forestry and tree-related research, to explore how Internet of Things technology can monitor tree growth and the impact of environmental change on the UK’s forests.

Specialist sensors have been attached to trees in the Alice Holt forest in Hampshire and are connected via Vodafone’s market-leading NB-IoT network. Data is automatically transmitted to Defra and Forest Research, where advanced analytics assesses the impact of temperature, humidity and moisture levels in the soil on tree growth and function. Measuring tree growth is important in enabling scientists to estimate what contribution trees may have to mitigate climate change as a result of their ability to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere.