Yes you can do it easily since WWII era,now with computers is easier, I suppose they will use brute force as usual for Google.
You could do it just taking infrared and ultraviolet photos, and comparing it with red, green and blue versions, leaves have their specific wavelength response, and some trees leave theirs on winter with specific yellows and browns. They could use it to segment for the tree specie.
Now for the three trunk position I suppose they will use their cars and bikes with LIDAR(very easy at ground level, think on a big kinect), or a very expensive plane with 3d recognition but this is problematic with trees that grow together and you don't know when one ends and the partner starts.
PS: I'm trying to detect trees position myself since a few years ago using aerial photography and ground cameras. I'm finishing a model of Casa de Campo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Campo
You could do it just taking infrared and ultraviolet photos, and comparing it with red, green and blue versions, leaves have their specific wavelength response, and some trees leave theirs on winter with specific yellows and browns. They could use it to segment for the tree specie.
Now for the three trunk position I suppose they will use their cars and bikes with LIDAR(very easy at ground level, think on a big kinect), or a very expensive plane with 3d recognition but this is problematic with trees that grow together and you don't know when one ends and the partner starts.
PS: I'm trying to detect trees position myself since a few years ago using aerial photography and ground cameras. I'm finishing a model of Casa de Campo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Campo