CHIANG MAI: On a hillside overlooking cabbage fields outside the northern city of Chiang Mai, a drone’s rotors begin to whir, lifting it over a patch of forest.
It moves back and forth atop the rich canopy, transmitting photos to be knitted into a 3D model that reveals the woodland’s health and helps estimate how much carbon it can absorb.
Drones are part of an increasingly sophisticated arsenal used by scientists to understand forests and their role in the battle…
