IP Library Granted Patent US 12,646,012
Granted Patent B2
US 12,646,012 · App. 18/014,631 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Vegetation management system and vegetation management method

Inventors: Yu Zhao (Tokyo, JP); Tomonori Yamamoto (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: HITACHI ENERGY LTD
G06Q10/00G01C11/00G06T7/70G06V20/188G06T2207/10032
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,646,012
App. No.
18/014,631
Granted
Jun 2, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Vegetation management system includes: a data acquisition unit that acquires input data including remote sensing data obtained by photographing, by remote sensing, a facility and vegetation to be analyzed; a vegetation classification unit that classifies the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data; a wide-area growth prediction unit that predicts a time-series change of a growth range of the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data; a vegetation amount simulation unit that predicts a fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation by a simulation; a three-dimensional construction unit that constructs a three-dimensional model expressing the facility and the vegetation; and a risk determination unit that determines a contact risk indicating a contact possibility between the facility and the vegetation.

Claims (53)

1 . A vegetation management system that analyzes, with use of remote sensing data obtained by photographing a facility and a vegetation to be analyzed by remote sensing, a contact of the vegetation with respect to the facility, the vegetation management system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

software that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor;

acquires input data including at least the remote sensing data, geographical data of the facility, and environmental data relating to a growth of the vegetation;

classifies the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data into a type of vegetation, from among a plurality of types of vegetation, based on a spectral library of different types of vegetation;

predicts a time-series change of a growth range of the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data;

predicts, by a simulation, a fluctuation in a growth amount of each classified vegetation;

constructs a three-dimensional model expressing the facility and the vegetation on basis of the remote sensing data and the geographical data; and

determines a contact risk indicating a contact possibility between the facility and the vegetation on basis of the predicted time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation, the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation, and the three-dimensional model.

2 . The vegetation management system according to claim 1 , wherein the software, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, further:

generates a visualization model that visualizes a positional relationship and the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation; and

specifies a maintenance work necessary for eliminating the contact risk on basis of the contact risk and the visualization model, and outputs content of the specified maintenance work.

3 . The vegetation management system according to claim 1 , wherein the determination of the contact risk comprises gradually executing:

wide-area judgement that evaluates the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation in a relatively wide-area range with use of the predicted time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation; and

detailed judgement that evaluates, with use of the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation, the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation only in a place in which it is evaluated that the contact risk exists in the wide-area judgement.

4 . The vegetation management system according to claim 3 , wherein the wide-area judgement uses a two-dimensional risk determination model in which the predicted time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation is reflected in a two-dimensional map obtained by importing the geographical data of the facility into the remote sensing data.

5 . The vegetation management system according to claim 3 , wherein the detailed judgement uses a three-dimensional risk determination model in which the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation is reflected in the three-dimensional model.

6 . The vegetation management system according to claim 1 , wherein the software, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, simulates the fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation with use of the environmental data, a growth model for each vegetation held in advance, and a classification result of the vegetation.

7 . The vegetation management system according to claim 2 , further comprising a database that stores therein various input data, intermediate data, and output data input or generated in the vegetation management system.

8 . A vegetation management method by a vegetation management system that analyzes, with use of remote sensing data obtained by photographing a facility and a vegetation to be analyzed by remote sensing, a contact of the vegetation with respect to the facility, the vegetation management method comprising:

a data acquisition step of acquiring input data including at least the remote sensing data, geographical data of the facility, and environmental data relating to a growth of the vegetation;

a vegetation classification step of classifying the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data into a type of vegetation, from among a plurality of types of vegetation, based on a spectral library of different types of vegetation;

a wide-area growth prediction step of predicting a time-series change of a growth range of the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data;

a vegetation amount simulation step of predicting, by a simulation, a fluctuation in a growth amount of each vegetation classified in the vegetation classification step;

a three-dimensional construction step of constructing a three-dimensional model expressing the facility and the vegetation on basis of the remote sensing data and the geographical data; and

a risk determination step of determining a contact risk indicating a contact possibility between the facility and the vegetation on basis of a processing result obtained in the wide-area growth prediction step, the vegetation amount simulation step, and the three-dimensional construction step.

9 . The vegetation management method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

a visualization step of generating a visualization model that visualizes a positional relationship and a contact risk between the facility and the vegetation; and

a maintenance instruction step of specifying a maintenance work necessary for eliminating the contact risk on basis of a determination result of the contact risk obtained in the risk determination step and the visualization model generated in the visualization step and outputting content of the specified maintenance work.

10 . The vegetation management method according to claim 8 , wherein the risk determination step includes gradually executing:

wide-area judgement that evaluates the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation in a relatively wide-area range with use of a prediction result of the time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation obtained in the wide-area growth prediction step; and

detailed judgement that evaluates, with use of a prediction result of the fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation obtained in the vegetation amount simulation step, the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation in a place in which it is evaluated that the contact risk exists in the wide-area judgement.

11 . The vegetation management method according to claim 10 , wherein the wide-area judgement uses a two-dimensional risk determination model in which the prediction result of the time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation obtained in the wide-area growth prediction step is reflected in a two-dimensional map obtained by importing the geographical data of the facility into the remote sensing data.

12 . The vegetation management method according to claim 10 , wherein the detailed judgement uses a three-dimensional risk determination model in which the prediction result of the fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation obtained in the vegetation amount simulation step is reflected in the three-dimensional model constructed in the three-dimensional construction step.

13 . The vegetation management method according to claim 8 , wherein the vegetation amount simulation step simulates the fluctuation in the growth amount of each vegetation with use of the environmental data, a growth model for each vegetation held in advance, and a classification result of the vegetation obtained in the vegetation classification step.

14 . The vegetation management method according to claim 9 , further comprising a storing step of storing various input data, intermediate data, and output data input or generated in the vegetation management system in a database of the vegetation management system.

15 . A method comprising using at least one computer processor to:

acquire input data that include at least remote sensing data, geographical data of a facility, and environmental data relating to a growth of vegetation, the remote sensing data obtained by photographing the facility and the vegetation;

classify the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data into a type of vegetation, from among a plurality of types of vegetation, based on a spectral library of different types of vegetation;

predict a time-series change of a growth range of the vegetation photographed in the remote sensing data;

predict, by a simulation, a fluctuation in a growth amount of the classified vegetation;

construct a three-dimensional model that expresses the facility and the vegetation based on the remote sensing data and the geographical data; and

determine a contact risk, indicating a contact possibility between the facility and the vegetation, based on the predicted time-series change of the growth rate of the vegetation, the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of the classified vegetation, and the constructed three-dimensional model.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , further comprising using the at least one computer processor to:

generate a visualization model that visualizes a positional relationship and the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation; and

specify maintenance work for eliminating the contact risk based on the contact risk and the visualization model; and

output content of the specified maintenance work.

17 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein determining the contact risk comprises gradually executing:

wide-area judgement that evaluates the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation in a relatively wide-area range, using the predicted time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation; and

detailed judgement that evaluates the contact risk between the facility and the vegetation in a place in which the wide-area judgement determines that the contact risk exists, using the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of the classified vegetation.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the wide-area judgement uses a two-dimensional risk determination model in which the predicted time-series change of the growth range of the vegetation is reflected in a two-dimensional map obtained by importing the geographical data of the facility into the remote sensing data.

19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the detailed judgement uses a three-dimensional risk determination model in which the predicted fluctuation in the growth amount of the classified vegetation is reflected in the constructed three-dimensional model.

20 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the fluctuation in the growth amount of the classified vegetation is simulated using the environmental data, a growth model for each vegetation held in advance, and a classification result of the vegetation.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Nov 13, 2023
From: HITACHI ENERGY SWITZERLAND AG
To: HITACHI ENERGY LTD
Reel/Frame 065548/0918 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 5, 2023
From: ZHAO, YU; YAMAMOTO, TOMONORI
To: HITACHI ENERGY SWITZERLAND AG
Reel/Frame 062286/0174 →