Case Study: The Agricultural Research Council achieves accurate mapping and prediction of invasive Prosopis spread with Hexagon's Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial Division

Tracking Invasive Tree Species in South Africa

The Agricultural Research Council (The Agricultural Research Council) faced the national challenge of mapping and monitoring invasive Prosopis trees across South Africa — determining 30 years of invasion history, plant densities, spatial dynamics and areas susceptible to future spread. To meet this need the ARC turned to Hexagon's Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial Division, using ERDAS IMAGINE (including ERDAS IMAGINE Professional and IMAGINE AutoSync) and Hexagon Geospatial’s Spatial Modeler to deliver the geospatial analysis and imagery processing required.

Hexagon's Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial Division provided ERDAS IMAGINE to rectify, mosaic and analyze imagery (classifications, vegetation indices and seasonal spectral signatures) and Spatial Modeler for GIS algebra and susceptibility modeling, with raster outputs integrated into ArcGIS. The solution produced detailed maps of current invasions, a 30‑year Landsat‑based invasion history, and identified high‑risk ecosystems, giving the ARC accurate, actionable baseline data to prioritize control efforts and to estimate economic impact, carbon sequestration, habitat loss and water use.

The Agricultural Research Council