Ideaz

Climate change is rapidly increasing urban temperatures. Urban heat island is an effect that is created when urban areas are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas due to cities replacing natural landscapes with heat-absorbing surfaces like concrete, asphalt, waste heat generated by vehicles and industries.

One of the most important aspects for cooling cities, filtering air, and storing carbon is the presence of trees. However, thousands of them die every year from heat stress, disease and neglect.  

Since most cities lack the resources to effectively monitor and protect their existing green cover, ReLeaf AI aims to reverse this by creating systems to monitor the green and utilising AI to prevent such significant losses.

Gaps in the current market:-

1. Urban tree health monitoring is still manual and consumes a lot of time.
2. Most initiatives aim to “plant” more trees instead of maintaining and nurturing already existing ones.
3. There aren’t AI tools widely available that predict tree stress or suggest any changes to prevent damage.
4. Most cities lack data-driven decision systems for managing the greenery and fighting heat zones.

How ReLeaf AI solves the problem:

It combines artificial intelligence, IoT(devices that detect and respond to environmental stimuli) and remote sensing to protect and help maintain urban tree life before they reach critical stress levels.

1. AI Image Analysis: Using drones and satellite imaging, the AI models process the image to detect slight changes in leaf colour, shape or any early indicators of dehydration or disease.
2. IoT Environmental Sensors: Soil moisture and temperature sensors continuously send real-time data to monitor the conditions.
3. Predictive Machine Learning Models: Based on the data, pollution levels and previous incidents, these models predict which of the trees are most at risk.
4. Smart Alerts: The system notifies the people at the levels to suggest specific interventions or changes to improve the health of the trees.

Who benefits:-

1. Communities benefit from cleaner air, reduced heat and an improved quality of life.
2. Environmental organisations can gain vital access to accurate data for policy planning, conservation or growth.
3. Local governments can prioritise maintenance and reduce costs with real-time data.
4. Universities and campuses can maintain a much more sustainable, cooler and greener environment.

The problem matters not only to me but to everyone because each summer, as we see more and more trees(once healthy) wither and die, we realise that “planting more trees” is not the only or main aspect regarding sustainability. It is about protecting what already exists.