Machine for forest resource analysis | Information dissemination media for research and development TEGAKARI

A customer involved in forest management asked us for a machine for creating orthoimages by taking aerial photographs of the entire managed forest with a drone, and for forest resource analysis using point cloud data.
In addition to the large target area of several tens to hundreds of hectares, it is necessary to handle high-resolution photographs for forest resource analysis, and it takes three to four days for SfM processing on the PC currently in use. Therefore, it is desired to shorten the processing speed.The conditions for the previous SfM treatment are as follows.

[Conditions when SfM treatment was performed before]

・Drone: DJI Mavic2Pro
・The number of pixels of the photograph: 2000 million pixels
・Image resolution: about 3cm
・Software: Metashape ultra-dense cloud quality is "high", depth map is "medium"
・Aerial photography of about 90ha with an overlap rate of 100%
・Implemented 15000 images

[Specs of the PC currently in use]

・CPU: Intel Xeon Gold 6128
・ Memory: 128GB
・GPU: Geforce GTX1080

Since it is necessary to perform similar processing in units of hundreds of hectares, we would like a PC that can stably process with a budget of about 100 million yen.

Based on the conditions you contacted us, we proposed the following configuration.

【Main Specifications】

CPU	Xeon Silver 4314 (2.40GHz 16 cores)
memory	256GB
Storage 1	1TB SSD S-ATA
Storage 2	4TB HDD S-ATA
Video	NVIDIA Geforce RTX4080
network	On Board (1000Base-T X2)
Housing + power supply	Middle tower case + 1000W
OS	Microsoft Windows 11 Professional 64bit
Others	TPM module

Since the machine you are currently using is a 1-CPU configuration of the first generation Xeon Scalable, we proposed a 3-CPU configuration equipped with the successor, the 1rd generation Xeon Scalable.
Although the CPU rank has dropped from Gold to Silver, the overall score in benchmark software is more than doubled due to the difference in generation and number of cores. Metashape has parallelized CPU processing, so when comparing the number of cores and the clock, it is better to select a CPU that prioritizes the number of cores rather than a clock-specific model like the Xeon Gold 2.

The video card is the Geforce RTX4000 from the latest generation RTX4080 series.
Please think that the performance difference is bigger than the CPU compared to the video card of the machine you are currently using.

Memory is capped at 256GB if you balance it all out within your budget.
Considering the scale of processing, it would be ideal to be able to secure up to 512GB, but even with the 128GB of the machine you are currently using, although it took a long time, processing itself can be done, so this capacity is used.

In terms of overall potential, the CPU and GPU performance is more than doubled compared to the current machine, so it is a configuration that can complete the same processing faster than now.However, since the scale of processing is quite large in the first place, it is necessary to assume that it will take a certain amount of time.

The configuration of this case study is based on the conditions given by the customer.
Please feel free to contact us even if you are considering different conditions from what is posted.

■FAQ

・What is an ortho image?
An orthoimage eliminates the positional misalignment of an image on a photograph, and converts an aerial photograph taken by a drone into an image that is displayed in the correct size and position without tilt when viewed from directly above the map (= orthographic converted) image.Corrects deformation due to the distance from the camera to the object and the height difference of the terrain, and the shape and position are arranged correctly, so the position / area / distance etc. possible.It is geospatial information that can be used by overlaying it with map data.

・What is Metashape?
Metahsape is software that can build high-quality 3D models from photographs (still images).
There are a Standard Edition with basic functions and a Professional Edition with more functions, and the Professional Edition can also create 3D GIS contents from aerial photographs.
Metashape licenses are handled by Unipos.

reference:Metashape (Agisoft) * Jump to the website of "Unipos", an overseas product procurement and consultation service for our research and development.