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1
Davidge, Lachlan Raphael, Carey Dylan Knox, and Joanne Marie Monks. "Flying towards the Future: Using Drones to Detect Lizards in Remote Alpine Terrain." Drones 8, no. 3 (February 25, 2024): 79. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones8030079.
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Climate change is exerting significant impacts on ecosystems worldwide, with alpine regions being particularly vulnerable. Alpine fauna is relatively poorly understood, particularly in terrain which is difficult for humans to survey. Knowledge of alpine species is further limited by a paucity of survey techniques that are widely applicable in this environment. Drones have potential as a low-impact tool for surveying fauna in remote alpine terrain. New Zealand’s diverse alpine lizards are an ideal system for exploring novel survey techniques. We build on previous research demonstrating the potential of drones for surveying alpine lizards by evaluating (1) how closely a drone can approach different alpine lizard species in scree, talus, and tussock-grassland habitats and (2) the effectiveness of drone surveys compared to traditional systematic visual searches for these species and habitats. The drone (model: DJI Mavic Air 2) was able to approach within 0.1–2.5 m of a lizard (mean = 0.77 m) before triggering a flight response. Systematic visual searches outperformed drone surveys in all habitats accessible to human observers. However, drones were relatively effective in talus habitats, demonstrating their potential utility in inaccessible rocky alpine habitats. Improvements to drone technology may further enhance the utility of drone-based surveys in ecological research.
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Dundas, Shannon J., Molly Vardanega, Patrick O’Brien, and Steven R. McLeod. "Quantifying Waterfowl Numbers: Comparison of Drone and Ground-Based Survey Methods for Surveying Waterfowl on Artificial Waterbodies." Drones 5, no. 1 (January 13, 2021): 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones5010005.
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Drones are becoming a common method for surveying wildlife as they offer an aerial perspective of the landscape. For waterbirds in particular, drones can overcome challenges associated with surveying locations not accessible on foot. With the rapid uptake of drone technology for bird surveys, there is a need to compare and calibrate new technologies with existing survey methods. We compared waterfowl counts derived from ground- and drone-based survey methods. We sought to determine if group size and waterbody size influenced the difference between counts of non-nesting waterfowl and if detection of species varied between survey methods. Surveys of waterfowl were carried out at constructed irrigation dams and wastewater treatment ponds throughout the Riverina region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Data were analyzed using Bayesian multilevel models (BMLM) with weakly informative priors. Overall, drone-derived counts of waterfowl were greater (+36%) than ground counts using a spotting scope (β_ground= 0.64 [0.62–0.66], (R2 = 0.973)). Ground counts also tended to underestimate the size of groups. Waterbody size had an effect on comparative counts, with ground counts being proportionally less than drone counts (mean = 0.74). The number of species identified in each waterbody type was similar regardless of survey method. Drone-derived counts are more accurate compared to traditional ground counts, but drones do have some drawbacks including initial equipment costs and time-consuming image or photo processing. Future surveys should consider using drones for more accurately surveying waterbirds, especially when large groups of birds are present on larger waterbodies.
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Fettermann, Ticiana, Lorenzo Fiori, Len Gillman, Karen A. Stockin, and Barbara Bollard. "Drone Surveys Are More Accurate Than Boat-Based Surveys of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)." Drones 6, no. 4 (March 25, 2022): 82. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6040082.
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Generating accurate estimates of group sizes or behaviours of cetaceans from boat-based surveys can be challenging because much of their activity occurs below the water surface and observations are distorted by horizontal perspectives. Automated observation using drones is an emerging research tool for animal behavioural investigations. However, drone-based and boat-based survey methods have not been quantitatively compared for small, highly mobile cetaceans, such as Delphinidae. Here, we conduct paired concurrent boat-based and drone-based surveys, measuring the number of individuals in 21 groups and the behaviour within 13 groups of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). We additionally assessed the ability to detect behaviour events by the drone that would not be detectable from the boat. Drone-derived abundance counts detected 26.4% more individuals per group on average than boat-based counts (p = 0.003). Drone-based behaviour observations detected travelling 55.2% more frequently and association in subgroups 80.4% more frequently than boat-based observations (p < 0.001 for both comparisons). Whereas foraging was recorded 58.3% and resting 15.1% less frequently by the drone than by boat-based surveys, respectively (p = 0.014 and 0.024). A considerable number of underwater behaviours ranging from individual play activities to intra- and inter-species interactions (including those with humans) were observed from the drone that could not be detected from the boat. Our findings demonstrate that drone surveys can improve the accuracy of population counts and behavioural data for small cetaceans and the magnitude of the discrepancies between the two methods highlights the need for cautious interpretation of studies that have relied on boat-derived data.
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Bogolin, Amy P., Drew R. Davis, Richard J. Kline, and Abdullah F. Rahman. "A drone-based survey for large, basking freshwater turtle species." PLOS ONE 16, no. 10 (October 27, 2021): e0257720. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257720.
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Conservation concerns are increasing for numerous freshwater turtle species, including Pseudemys gorzugi, which has led to a call for more research. However, traditional sampling methodologies are often time consuming, labor intensive, and invasive, restricting the amount of data that can be collected. Biases of traditional sampling methods can further impair the quality of the data collected, and these shortfalls may discourage their use. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, drones) for conducting wildlife surveys has recently demonstrated the potential to bridge gaps in data collection by offering a less labor intensive, minimally invasive, and more efficient process. Photographs and video can be obtained by camera attachments during a drone flight and analyzed to determine population counts, abundance, and other types of data. In this study we developed a detailed protocol to survey for large, freshwater turtle species in an arid, riverine landscape. This protocol was implemented with a DJI Matrice 600 Pro drone and a SONY ILCE α6000 digital camera to determine P. gorzugi and sympatric turtle species occurrence across 42 sites in southwestern Texas, USA. The use of a large drone and high-resolution camera resulted in high identification percentages, demonstrating the potential of drones to survey for large, freshwater turtle species. Numerous advantages to drone-based surveys were identified as well as some challenges, which were addressed with additional refinement of the protocol. Our data highlight the utility of drones for conducting freshwater turtle surveys and provide a guideline to those considering implementing drone-mounted high-resolution cameras as a survey tool.
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Reis-Filho, José Amorim, and Tommaso Giarrizzo. "Drone Surveys Are More Efficient and Cost Effective Than Ground- and Boat-Based Surveys for the Inspection of Fishing Fleet at Harbors." Coasts 2, no. 4 (December 16, 2022): 355–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/coasts2040018.
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Generating accurate estimates of the number of vessels in fishing ports using traditional methods (i.e., ground- and boat-based) can be challenging as observations are distorted by an horizontal perspective. Automated inspection using drones is an emerging research alternative for this type of investigation. However, the drone-based and ground- and boat-based survey methods have not been quantitatively compared for small-scale and commercial fishing fleets in their ports. The objective of this study was to determine the number of fishing vessels and detect onboard fishing gear using three independent sources of data along 41 ports across the Brazilian coastline. Proved by statistical significance, the drone-derived vessel counts revealed 17.9% and 26.6% more fishing vessels than ground- and boat-based surveys, respectively. These differences were further highlighted during the assessment of ports without a ground walkway, causing difficulty, especially for ground-based surveys. Considerable numbers and types of onboard fishing gear were detected using the drone survey, that could not be detected using the ground- and boat-based methods. Although the ground-based survey was associated with a lower cost in comparison with other methods, the drone-based survey required the least time to record fishing fleet features in study ports. Our findings demonstrate that drone surveys can improve the detection and precision of counts for fishing vessels and fishing gear in ports. Further, the magnitude of the discrepancies among the three methods highlights the need for employing drone surveys as a considerable time-reducing approach, and a cost-effective technique for fishery studies.
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Filippo, Tomasello. "How to legally use drones for surveys?" Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences 9, no. 2 (August 8, 2023): 042–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.17352/2455-488x.000066.
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Drones are very useful for civil engineering and environmental surveys because drones may increase productivity, allow more regular and comprehensive monitoring of construction progress, monitor the status of infrastructures (e.g. bridges), and anyway collect a vast amount of digital data, which can be easily stored, manipulated and shared. However, while the benefits offered to end users by drones are becoming apparent to the entire professional community, possibly not anyone is yet aware of the conditions to fly drones legally in different jurisdictions. The aim of this article is to respond to some of the most common questions on the regulation of drones, hoping that the answers might facilitate the development of business cases for organisations that have not yet decided to use drones, or which intend to expand their use. In the USA Part 107 lists detailed limitations and conditions for the UA flight, but it does not have a clear list of responsibilities of the RPIC compared with the wider responsibilities of the UAS operator (e.g. the commercial company employing the pilot). In the EU, USA, and other jurisdictions, the first obligation to legally fly a drone for professional purposes is registration; the drone (if MTOM 250 g or more) in the USA and the operator in the EU (even if the drone is below 250 g). Virtual and ‘face-to-face’ courses on the regulation of non-military drones are available at the Joint Aviation Authorities – Training Organisation (JAA-TO).
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Spaan, Denise, Claire Burke, Owen McAree, Filippo Aureli, Coral E. Rangel-Rivera, Anja Hutschenreiter, Steve N. Longmore, Paul R. McWhirter, and Serge A. Wich. "Thermal Infrared Imaging from Drones Offers a Major Advance for Spider Monkey Surveys." Drones 3, no. 2 (April 11, 2019): 34. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones3020034.
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Accurate and precise population estimates form the basis of conservation action but are lacking for many arboreal species due to the high costs and difficulty in surveying these species. Recently, researchers have started to use drones to obtain data on animal distribution and density. In this study, we compared ground and drone counts for spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) at their sleeping sites using a custom-built drone fitted with a thermal infrared (TIR) camera. We demonstrated that a drone with a TIR camera can be successfully employed to determine the presence and count the number of spider monkeys in a forested area. Using a concordance analysis, we found high agreement between ground and drone counts for small monkey subgroups (<10 individuals), indicating that the methods do not differ when surveying small subgroups. However, we found low agreement between methods for larger subgroups (>10 individuals), with drone counts being higher than the corresponding ground counts in 83% of surveys. We could identify additional individuals from TIR drone footage due to a greater area covered compared to ground surveys. We recommend using TIR drones for surveys of spider monkey sleeping sites and discuss current challenges to implementation.
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Take, Jelke. "Op een veelbewoond eiland: een (drone) pilotstudie naar effectieve sitekartering in arctisch Canada." Paleo-aktueel, no. 32 (September 20, 2022): 51–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.21827/pa.32.51-59.
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On a crowded island: A (drone)pilot study to effective site mapping in arctic Canada. As drones offer a flexible and economical method for aerial archaeological data acquirement, the effectiveness of large-scale drone mapping/survey in the Canadian Arctic was tested at the Nunavut archaeological site Uglit. Archaeological research in this part of the world is logistically challenging and economically costly. Therefore, drones offer a relatively simple and inexpensive alternative to traditional surface surveys. Many of the archaeological features at Uglit are apparent in the drone imagery and the acquired data is well-suited for further site analysis. In the future, archaeological mapping of Canadian arctic sites by drones is likely to become a more integrated feature of research projects.
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Karaoulis, Marios, Ipo Ritsema, Chris Bremmer, Marco De Kleine, Gualbert Oude Essink, and Edvard Ahlrichs. "Drone-Borne Electromagnetic (DR-EM) Surveying in The Netherlands: Lab and Field Validation Results." Remote Sensing 14, no. 21 (October 25, 2022): 5335. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14215335.
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In the past decade, drones have become available and affordable for civil applications, including mapping and monitoring the Earth with geophysical sensors. In 2017 and 2019, the feasibility of executing frequency domain electromagnetic (FDEM) surveys using an off-the-shelf drone was investigated at Deltares Institute. This paper reports firstly the preparatory tests executed to determine the optimal instrumental configuration, flight path, data processing and inversion schemes and secondly the three field validation tests executed to demonstrate the feasibility of the drone-borne electromagnetic survey in real-scale applications. At several test sites, the optimal configuration of the drone and electromagnetic instruments, such as the mounting device and distance of the electromagnetic (EM) sensor with respect to the drone, the flight altitude, the coil separation and frequency of the EM source, efficiency and safety, and the assemblage of instrument and drone data were investigated. This has resulted in a robust method to acquire accurate and repeatable in-phase, quadrature and apparent resistivity data, and a workflow for data correction, processing and inversion scheme was developed. During those tests, three EM instruments were tested. The drone-borne electromagnetic (DR-EM) system has the ability and efficacy to fly over inaccessible areas and surface water. Compared to helicopter-borne electromagnetic surveys, the spatial resolution is much higher, which allows very detailed 3D mapping of subsurface targets, and the survey costs are relatively low. Repeated drone-borne electromagnetic (DR-EM) surveys allow low-cost monitoring of local changes in water saturation and salinity.
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Kelaher, Brendan P., Victor M. Peddemors, Brent Hoade, Andrew P. Colefax, and Paul A. Butcher. "Comparison of sampling precision for nearshore marine wildlife using unmanned and manned aerial surveys." Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 8, no. 1 (March 1, 2020): 30–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2018-0023.
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Aerial surveys of large marine wildlife in nearshore areas can support management actions to ensure conservation of this megafauna. While most aerial surveys of marine wildlife have been carried out using manned aircraft, unmanned aerial systems (commonly known as drones) are being increasingly used. Here, we compare the relative accuracy and precision of marine wildlife surveys from a multirotor drone and a manned helicopter for the first time. At two locations on the east coast of Australia, we simultaneously surveyed sharks (including white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias), dolphins, rays, and sea turtles in nearshore coastal areas using a multirotor drone (DJI Inspire I) and a helicopter (Robinson 44 Clipper II) over 26 separate flights. Sampling included the real-time quantification of marine wildlife by an observer in the helicopter and the pilot of the drone. The video feed from the drone was then later re-sampled in the laboratory. Of the three methods, post-hoc analysis of drone video footage is likely to provide the most accurate and precise estimates of marine wildlife in nearshore areas. When real-time data are required (e.g., for shark-risk mitigation), manned helicopters (over larger stretches of coast) and drones (across localised beaches) will both be useful.
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Dung, Nguyen Dinh. "Developing Models for Managing Drones in the Transportation System in Smart Cities." Electrical, Control and Communication Engineering 15, no. 2 (December 1, 2019): 71–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ecce-2019-0010.
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AbstractUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially drones, have advantages of having applications in different areas, including agriculture, transportation, such as land use surveys and traffic surveillance, and weather research. Many network protocols are architected for the communication between multiple drones. The present study proposes drone-following models for managing drones in the transportation management system in smart cities. These models are based on the initial idea that drones flight towards a leading drone in the traffic flow. Such models are described by the relative distance and velocity functions. Two types of drone-following models are presented in the study. The first model is a safe distance model (SD model), in which a safe distance between a drone and its ahead is maintained. By applying the stochastic diffusion process, an improved model, called Markov model, is deduced. These drone-following models are simulated in a 2D environment using numerical simulation techniques. With the simulation results, it could be noted that: i) there is no accident and no unrealistic deceleration; ii) the velocity of the followed drone is changed according to the speed of the drone ahead; iii) the followed drones keep a safe distance to drone ahead even the velocities are changed; iv) the performance of the Markov model is better than that of the SD model.
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Brunton, Bolin, Leon, and Burnett. "Fright or Flight? Behavioural Responses of Kangaroos to Drone-Based Monitoring." Drones 3, no. 2 (April 24, 2019): 41. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones3020041.
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: Drones are often considered an unobtrusive method of monitoring terrestrial wildlife; however research into whether drones disturb wildlife is in its early stages. This research investigated the potential impacts of drone monitoring on a large terrestrial mammal, the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), in urban and peri-urban environments. We assessed the response of kangaroos to drone monitoring by analysing kangaroo behaviour prior to and during drone deployments using a linear modelling approach. We also explored factors that influenced kangaroo responses including drone altitude, site characteristics and kangaroo population dynamics and demographics. We showed that drones elicit a vigilance response, but that kangaroos rarely fled from the drone. However, kangaroos were most likely to flee from a drone flown at an altitude of 30 m. This study suggests that drone altitude is a key consideration for minimising disturbance of large terrestrial mammals and that drone flights at an altitude of 60–100 m above ground level will minimise behavioural impacts. It also highlights the need for more research to assess the level of intrusion and other impacts that drone surveys have on the behaviour of wildlife and the accuracy of the data produced.
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Ellis-Felege, Susan N., Tanner Stechmann, Samuel Hervey, Christopher J. Felege, Robert F. Rockwell, and Andrew F. Barnas. "Nesting Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) show little behavioral response to fixed-wing drone surveys." Drone Systems and Applications 10, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2021-0012.
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Drones may be valuable in polar research because they can minimize researcher activity and overcome logistical, financial, and safety obstacles associated with wildlife research in polar regions. Because polar species may be particularly sensitive to disturbance and some research suggests behavioral responses to drones are species-specific, there is a need for focal species-specific disturbance assessments. We evaluated behavioral responses of nesting Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758), n = 19 incubating females) to first, second, or in a few cases third exposure of fixed-wing drone surveys using nest cameras. We found no effect of drone flights (F[1,23] = 0, P = 1.0) or previous exposures (F[1,23] = 0.75, P = 0.397) on the probability of a daily recess event (bird leaves nests). Drone flights did not impact recess length (F[1,25] = 1.34, P = 0.26); however, Common Eiders with prior drone exposure took longer recess events (F[1,25] = 5.27, P = 0.03). We did not observe any overhead vigilance behaviors common in other species while the drone was in the air, which may reflect Common Eiders’ anti-predator strategies of reducing activity at nests in response to aerial predators. Surveying nesting Common Eider colonies with a fixed-wing drone did not result in biologically meaningful behavioral changes, providing a potential tool for research and monitoring this polar nesting species.
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Mohd Yunus, Siti Noranis’s, and Umawathy Techanamurthy. "Students’ Acceptance of Drones Using the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice (KAP) Model." Jurnal Kejuruteraan si6, no. 2 (December 30, 2023): 143–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jkukm-2023-si6(2)-16.
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Currently, drones are used for commercial, public safety, recreational, and scientific research purposes. Both short-term and long-term projections indicate the extensive adoption of drones in numerous industries. However, it is uncertain whether future generations will tolerate this high potential for drone congestion. This quantitative survey study investigated students' approval of drones by employing the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practise (KAP) model and reducing uncertainty with statistical analysis. A recent survey utilised the KAP model to determine the public's perception of drones. This survey instrument was completely redesigned to better comprehend students' knowledge, attitudes, and risk perceptions regarding forty distinct drone applications. The practise section was also redesigned to better comprehend how students use drones on a personal and academic level. The results indicated that drones are currently approved. Commercial and recreational uses are not permitted. Students view drones as a potentially dangerous technology that directly invades their privacy. Furthermore, students are unaware of the majority of prospective and current drone applications. The survey was disseminated to college and high school students to represent the younger generation of the population (113 completed surveys). Additionally, students must be informed about these strategies via the media and educational institutions. This may assist in transforming the perception of drones from destroying machines and privacy invaders to a technology beneficial to society
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Francis, Roxane J., and Kate J. Brandis. "Assessment of Ground and Drone Surveys of Large Waterbird Breeding Rookeries: A Comparative Study." Drones 8, no. 4 (April 2, 2024): 135. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones8040135.
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Assessing nesting metrics in large waterbird breeding rookeries is challenging due to their size and accessibility. Drones offer a promising solution, but their comparability with ground surveys remains debated. In our study, we directly compared ground and drone data collected simultaneously over the same breeding areas. Drones excel in accessing remote terrain, enhancing coverage, mapping colony extent and reducing sampling bias. However, flying at the low altitudes required to capture young chicks in nests within densely populated rookeries poses challenges, often requiring observer presence and diminishing the distance advantage. Drones enable rapid data collection and facilitate accurate ibis chick counts, particularly at the “runner” stage when chicks are very mobile, and our surveys found significant differences in the counts between drone and ground surveys at this nesting stage. Ground surveys, on the other hand, provide valuable contextual observations, including water variables and sensory cues concerning the health of the colony. Both methods offer unique insights, with drones providing high-resolution aerial data and ground surveys complementing with human observations. Integrating both methods is ideal for comprehensive waterbird monitoring and conservation.
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Howell, Lachlan G., Blake M. Allan, Don A. Driscoll, Daniel Ierodiaconou, Todd A. Doran, and Michael A. Weston. "Attenuation of Responses of Waterbirds to Repeat Drone Surveys Involving a Sequence of Altitudes and Drone Types: A Case Study." Drones 7, no. 8 (July 28, 2023): 497. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones7080497.
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Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS, or ‘drones’ hereafter) have potential for surveying waterbird species and habitats, but there is a risk that the disturbance from drones could compromise count accuracy and bird welfare. We examined the response of 16 waterbird species to repeated up-and-back overhead drone flights (n = 50 flights) at multiple flight heights (80, 60, 40 and 20 m) using three common drone platforms (DJI Matrice 300, DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and DJI Phantom 4). A ground observer scored the species’ responses to overhead drone flights, which ranged from no response (no change to initial behavior), vigilance (head turning and tracking), movement within the site (swimming, diving, flight into or on the water) and substantial flight resulting in departure from the pond (fleeing). A total of 280 waterbird encounters with overhead drones were observed. The most common response across all flights was no response (70.7%), followed by vigilance (27.5%), whereas more intense responses were comparatively rare (1.8%). The responses were of higher intensity during earlier overhead drone flights, before moderating substantially during later flights. Thus, our case study provides the first unambiguous evidence of the attenuation of responses of bird species to drones.
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Hodgson, Amanda J., Nat Kelly, and David Peel. "Drone images afford more detections of marine wildlife than real-time observers during simultaneous large-scale surveys." PeerJ 11 (November 3, 2023): e16186. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16186.
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There are many advantages to transitioning from conducting marine wildlife surveys via human observers onboard light-aircraft, to capturing aerial imagery using drones. However, it is important to maintain the validity of long-term data series whilst transitioning from observer to imagery surveys. We need to understand how the detection rates of target species in images compare to those collected from observers in piloted aircraft, and the factors influencing detection rates from each platform. We conducted trial ScanEagle drone surveys of dugongs in Shark Bay, Western Australia, covering the full extent of the drone’s range (∼100 km), concurrently with observer surveys, with the drone flying above or just behind the piloted aircraft. We aimed to test the assumption that drone imagery could provide comparable detection rates of dugongs to human observers when influenced by same environmental conditions. Overall, the dugong sighting rate (i.e., count of individual dugongs) was 1.3 (95% CI [0.98–1.84]) times higher from the drone images than from the observers. The group sighting rate was similar for the two platforms, however the group sizes detected within the drone images were significantly larger than those recorded by the observers, which explained the overall difference in sighting rates. Cloud cover appeared to be the only covariate affecting the two platforms differently; the incidence of cloud cover resulted in smaller group sizes being detected by both platforms, but the observer group sizes dropped much more dramatically (by 71% (95% CI [31–88]) compared to no cloud) than the group sizes detected in the drone images (14% (95% CI [−28–57])). Water visibility and the Beaufort sea state also affected dugong counts and group sizes, but in the same way for both platforms. This is the first direct simultaneous comparison between sightings from observers in piloted aircraft and a drone and demonstrates the potential for drone surveys over a large spatial-scale.
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Orange, Jeremy, Ronald Bielefeld, William Cox, and Andrea Sylvia. "Impacts of Drone Flight Altitude on Behaviors and Species Identification of Marsh Birds in Florida." Drones 7, no. 9 (September 16, 2023): 584. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones7090584.
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Unmanned aerial vehicles (hereafter drones) are rapidly replacing manned aircraft as the preferred tool used for aerial wildlife surveys, but questions remain about which survey protocols are most effective and least impactful on wildlife behaviors. We evaluated the effects of drone overflights on nontarget species to inform the development of a Florida mottled duck (MODU; Anas fulvigula fulvigula) survey. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate the effect of flight altitude on the behavior of marsh birds, (2) evaluate the effect of altitude on a surveyor’s ability to identify the species of detected birds, and (3) test protocols for upcoming MODU surveys. We flew 120 continuously moving transects at altitudes ranging from 12 to 91 m and modeled variables that influenced detection, species identification, and behavior of nontarget species. Few marsh birds were disturbed during drone flights, but we were unable to confidently detect birds at the two highest altitudes, and we experienced difficulties identifying the species of birds detected in video collected at 30 m. Our findings indicate that MODUs could be surveyed at altitudes as low as 12–30 m with minimal impact to adjacent marsh birds and that larger-bodied nontarget marsh species can be identified from videos collected during MODU drone surveys.
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Kim, Kyungdoh. "User Preferences in Drone Design and Operation." Drones 6, no. 5 (May 23, 2022): 133. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6050133.
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Drones, which were first used in military applications, are now widely used by civilians for various purposes such as for deliveries and as cameras. There has been a lack of research into what drone users expect in terms of drone design and operation from a user perspective. In order to figure out what users want from drones, it is necessary to investigate the perception and design preferences of users with regard to drones. Surveys were conducted to collect data on preferences for various aspects of the design and operation of drone technology. Features relevant to the design and operation of drones were considered. We have identified the underlying factor structures of drone design and operation: outdoor mission type, user interface, military mission type, usefulness, risk, special mission type, and concern. The most important factors that contribute to all the dependent variables are the user interface and usefulness. The fact that drones will be increasingly used in the future is clear; however, the purpose of this study was to find out the areas on which to focus and pay further attention.
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Das, Rocktim Ramen, Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour, Sanaz Hazraty-Kari, and James Davis Reimer. "Survey of Black Band Disease-affected scleractinian corals via drone-based observations in Okinawa, Japan." Journal of Threatened Taxa 15, no. 6 (June 26, 2023): 23397–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/jott.8215.15.6.23397-23402.
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Diseases are a growing global threat to scleractinian corals. This study used a relatively inexpensive commercial drone flown simultaneously along with reef walking/snorkeling to confirm the presence of cyanobacterial Black Band Disease (BBD) on a reef in subtropical Okinawa, Japan. At the surveyed reef, the scleractinian corals included encrusting forms (12.57% ± 5.72 coverage), followed by massive/submassive (6.09% ± 4.05) and tabular corals (2.66% ± 1.19). Our survey is unique in that drone research has not been previously applied to BBD surveys, followed by ground truthing. Thus, this study can be regarded as an example of using drones during coral disease assessments.
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Lenzi, Javier, Christopher J. Felege, Robert Newman, Blake McCann, and Susan N. Ellis-Felege. "Feral Horses and Bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota, United States) Exhibit Shifts in Behaviors during Drone Flights." Drones 6, no. 6 (May 25, 2022): 136. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6060136.
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Drone use has been rapidly increasing in protected areas in North America, and potential impacts on terrestrial megafauna have been largely unstudied. We evaluated behavioral responses to drones on two terrestrial charismatic species, feral horse (Equus caballus) and bison (Bison bison), at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota, United States) in 2018. Using a Trimble UX5 fixed-wing drone, we performed two flights at 120 m above ground level (AGL), one for each species, and recorded video footage of their behaviors prior to, during, and after the flight. Video footage was analyzed in periods of 10 s intervals, and the occurrence of a behavior was modeled in relation to the phase of the flights (prior, during, and after). Both species displayed behavioral responses to the presence of the fixed-wing drone. Horses increased feeding (p-value < 0.05), traveling (p-value < 0.05), and vigilance (p-value < 0.05) behaviors, and decreased resting (p-value < 0.05) and grooming (p-value < 0.05). Bison increased feeding (p-value < 0.05) and traveling (p-value < 0.05) and decreased resting (p-value < 0.05) and grooming (p-value < 0.05). Neither species displayed escape behaviors. Flying at 120 m AGL, the drone might have been perceived as low risk, which could possibly explain the absence of escape behaviors in both species. While we did not test physiological responses, our behavioral observations suggest that drone flights at the altitude we tested did not elicit escape responses, which have been observed in ground surveys or traditional low-level aerial surveys. Our results provide new insights for guidelines about drone use in conservation areas, such as the potential of drones for surveys of feral horses and bison with low levels of disturbance, and we further recommend the development of in situ guidelines in protected areas centered on place-based knowledge, besides existing standardized guidelines.
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Hamasato, Yohei, Akinori Sakaguchi, Takeshi Tsuji, and Kaoru Yamamoto. "Optimization of Drone-Based Surface-Wave Seismic Surveys Using a Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem." Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 35, no. 2 (April 20, 2023): 271–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0271.
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In this study, we investigate the problem of finding energy-efficient routes for multiple drones conducting a surface-wave seismic survey. The survey utilizes one seismic source and multiple measurement points spread over a designated area. Each drone carries a seismometer, and is tasked with visiting pre-specified points to take measurements of seismic signals by resting idle on the ground for a set time. Due to this mandatory idling time, their energy consumption is not proportional to the flight distance, nor it is possible to apply standard path minimization algorithms. To address this issue, we establish an energy consumption model for each drone and propose algorithms to optimally allocate points to each drone and generate routes that minimize total energy consumption. The validity of these algorithms is discussed using numerical simulations.
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Accomando, Filippo, Andrea Vitale, Antonello Bonfante, Maurizio Buonanno, and Giovanni Florio. "Performance of Two Different Flight Configurations for Drone-Borne Magnetic Data." Sensors 21, no. 17 (August 26, 2021): 5736. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21175736.
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The compensation of magnetic and electromagnetic interference generated by drones is one of the main problems related to drone-borne magnetometry. The simplest solution is to suspend the magnetometer at a certain distance from the drone. However, this choice may compromise the flight stability or introduce periodic data variations generated by the oscillations of the magnetometer. We studied this problem by conducting two drone-borne magnetic surveys using a prototype system based on a cesium-vapor magnetometer with a 1000 Hz sampling frequency. First, the magnetometer was fixed to the drone landing-sled (at 0.5 m from the rotors), and then it was suspended 3 m below the drone. These two configurations illustrate endmembers of the possible solutions, favoring the stability of the system during flight or the minimization of the mobile platform noise. Drone-generated noise was filtered according to a CWT analysis, and both the spectral characteristics and the modelled source parameters resulted analogously to that of a ground magnetic dataset in the same area, which were here taken as a control dataset. This study demonstrates that careful processing can return high quality drone-borne data using both flight configurations. The optimal flight solution can be chosen depending on the survey target and flight conditions.
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Pirttijärvi, Markku, Ari Saartenoja, and Pekka Korkeakangas. "Drone-based electromagnetic survey system for geophysical applications." Open Research Europe 2 (January 7, 2022): 3. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13906.1.
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Geophysical electromagnetic (EM) methods are used in geological mapping, mineral exploration, groundwater studies and geotechnical investigations. Airborne EM methods have the benefit of avoiding terrain obstacles such as lakes, rivers, swamps, and ravines. Compared to manned aircrafts, drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have benefits of their own. Drone-based surveys are versatile, fast to deploy, economical and ecologically more friendly. Presently, magnetic surveying is the only geophysical method that is routinely conducted with drones. The modest maximum payload limit of drones imposes severe restrictions on the applicability of other methods including EM and radiometric methods, for example. Finnish company, Radai Ltd has been developing Louhi, a novel drone-based frequency-domain EM survey system, in an EU funded Horizon 2020 project NEXT – New Exploration Technologies. The EM system has two operation options – the first uses a large loop on the ground as an EM source and the other uses a small portable EM transmitter loop. Both systems utilize a stand-alone and light-weight three-component EM receiver that can be towed by a drone. This article presents the theoretical background of the EM methods, the solution developed by Radai Ltd, the current version of the EM device, and results from field and flight tests that demonstrate the applicability of the drone-based EM system under development.
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Sen, Aayush. "Efficient Charging and Power Management System for Drone Fleets: Revolutionizing Aerial Operations." Innovative Research Thoughts 9, no. 5 (2023): 21–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.36676/irt.2023-v9i5-003.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), sometimes known as drones, have become more widespread in a variety of industries, ranging from agricultural and infrastructure inspection to emergency response and surveillance. This proliferation demonstrates drones' transformational potential in optimizing operational efficiency, data collection, and cost-effectiveness. However, as the applications of drone technology expand and the demand for their services grows, an urgent need for an effective charging and power management system for drone fleets develops. Several essential reasons highlight the need for better charging and power management infrastructure. For starters, the increasing breadth and length of drone operations necessitate a dependable and simplified power supply method. Drones are increasingly being charged with operations that need continuous power delivery for hours or even days. A trustworthy power management system is critical for conducting large-scale surveys, monitoring vast agricultural regions, or providing critical airborne help in crises.
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Rahman, Dede Aulia, Andre Bonardo Yonathan Sitorus, and Aryo Adhi Condro. "From Coastal to Montane Forest Ecosystems, Using Drones for Multi-Species Research in the Tropics." Drones 6, no. 1 (December 25, 2021): 6. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6010006.
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Biodiversity monitoring is crucial in tackling defaunation in the Anthropocene, particularly in tropical ecosystems. However, field surveys are often limited by habitat complexity, logistical constraints, financing and detectability. Hence, leveraging drones technology for species monitoring is required to overcome the caveats of conventional surveys. We investigated prospective methods for wildlife monitoring using drones in four ecosystems. We surveyed waterbird populations in Pulau Rambut, a community of ungulates in Baluran and endemic non-human primates in Gunung Halimun-Salak, Indonesia in 2021 using a DJI Matrice 300 RTK and DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual with additional thermal sensors. We then, consecutively, implemented two survey methods at three sites to compare the efficacy of drones against traditional ground survey methods for each species. The results show that drone surveys provide advantages over ground surveys, including precise size estimation, less disturbance and broader area coverage. Moreover, heat signatures helped to detect species which were not easily spotted in the radiometric imagery, while the detailed radiometric imagery allowed for species identification. Our research also demonstrates that machine learning approaches show a relatively high performance in species detection. Our approaches prove promising for wildlife surveys using drones in different ecosystems in tropical forests.
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Witczuk, Julia, and Stanisław Pagacz. "Evaluating Alternative Flight Plans in Thermal Drone Wildlife Surveys—Simulation Study." Remote Sensing 13, no. 6 (March 14, 2021): 1102. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13061102.
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The rapidly developing technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) extends to the availability of aerial surveys for wildlife research and management. However, regulations limiting drone operations to visual line of sight (VLOS) seriously affect the design of surveys, as flight paths must be concentrated within small sampling blocks. Such a design is inferior to spatially unrestricted randomized designs available if operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) are allowed. We used computer simulations to assess whether the VLOS rule affects the accuracy and precision of wildlife density estimates derived from drone collected data. We tested two alternative flight plans (VLOS vs. BVLOS) in simulated surveys of low-, medium- and high-density populations of a hypothetical ungulate species with three levels of effort (one to three repetitions). The population density was estimated using the ratio estimate and distance sampling method. The observed differences in the accuracy and precision of estimates from the VLOS and BVLOS surveys were relatively small and negligible. Only in the case of the low-density population (2 ind./100 ha) surveyed once was the VLOS design inferior to BVLOS, delivering biased and less precise estimates. These results show that while the VLOS regulations complicate survey logistics and interfere with random survey design, the quality of derived estimates does not have to be compromised. We advise testing alternative survey variants with the aid of computer simulations to achieve reliable estimates while minimizing survey costs.
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Muhammed, Hamza, Muhammadu Muhammed, and Patrick Uwajeh. "Investigating the use of Drone Technology for Effective Project Management." Nile Journal of Engineering and Applied Science 2, no. 1 (2024): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/njeas.188768.
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This study investigates the pivotal role of drones in enhancing project management within the construction industry, focusing on their applications and impact. The study addresses the prevalent productivity and efficiency challenges in the construction sector. Key areas of inquiry encompass the utilization of drones for aerial surveys, real-time data collection, and safety enhancement in construction projects. The study aspires to furnish comprehensive insights into the benefits, challenges, and best practices associated with the integration of drone technology. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study combines a thorough ten-year retrospective analysis from 2013 to 2023 with quantitative data collected through surveys distributed to construction companies and professionals involved in project management. Additionally, qualitative data is obtained through interviews with key stakeholders to explore factors influencing the use of drones for effective project management in construction. The findings of this study show drone technology improves site surveying and mapping, enhances progress monitoring and documentation, quality control and defect detection, enables safety monitoring and risk management but it also faces adoption challenges. The conclusion underscores the potential of drones to enhance cost efficiency, time savings, quality, and safety in construction projects. Recommendations advocate for strategic investments in drone technology by construction companies, the establishment of standardized procedures and protocols for its use, provision of comprehensive training programs, development of project management professionals' skills, and collaborative efforts with stakeholders. These recommendations collectively contribute to the optimized incorporation of drones into project management practices within the construction sector.
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Li, Joan Y. Q., Stephanie Duce, Karen E. Joyce, and Wei Xiang. "SeeCucumbers: Using Deep Learning and Drone Imagery to Detect Sea Cucumbers on Coral Reef Flats." Drones 5, no. 2 (April 16, 2021): 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones5020028.
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Sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea or holothurians) are a valuable fishery and are also crucial nutrient recyclers, bioturbation agents, and hosts for many biotic associates. Their ecological impacts could be substantial given their high abundance in some reef locations and thus monitoring their populations and spatial distribution is of research interest. Traditional in situ surveys are laborious and only cover small areas but drones offer an opportunity to scale observations more broadly, especially if the holothurians can be automatically detected in drone imagery using deep learning algorithms. We adapted the object detection algorithm YOLOv3 to detect holothurians from drone imagery at Hideaway Bay, Queensland, Australia. We successfully detected 11,462 of 12,956 individuals over 2.7ha with an average density of 0.5 individual/m2. We tested a range of hyperparameters to determine the optimal detector performance and achieved 0.855 mAP, 0.82 precision, 0.83 recall, and 0.82 F1 score. We found as few as ten labelled drone images was sufficient to train an acceptable detection model (0.799 mAP). Our results illustrate the potential of using small, affordable drones with direct implementation of open-source object detection models to survey holothurians and other shallow water sessile species.
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Mo, Matthew, and Katarina Bonatakis. "An examination of trends in the growing scientific literature on approaching wildlife with drones." Drone Systems and Applications 10, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 111–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/dsa-2021-0003.
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Drones or unoccupied aerial vehicles are rapidly being used for a spectrum of applications, including replacing traditional occupied aircraft as a means of approaching wildlife from the air. Though less intrusive to wildlife than occupied aircraft, drones can still cause varying levels of disturbance. Policies and protocols to guide lowest-impact drone flights are most likely to succeed if considerations are derived from knowledge from scientific literature. This study examines trends in the scientific literature on using drones to approach wildlife between 2000 and 2020, specifically in relation to the publication types, scientific journals that works are published in, purposes of drone flights reported, taxa studied, and locations of studies. From 223 publications, we observed a large increase in relevant scientific literature, the majority of which were peer-reviewed articles published across 86 scientific journals. The largest proportion of peer-reviewed research articles related to aquatic mammals or aquatic birds and the use or trial of drone flights for conducting population surveys, animal detection, or investigations of animal responses to drone flights. The largest proportion of articles were studies conducted in North America and Australia. Since animal responses to drone flights vary among taxa, populations, and geographic locations, we encourage further growth in the volume of relevant scientific literature needed to inform policies and protocols for specific taxa and (or) locations, particularly where knowledge gaps exist.
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Saunders, Debbie, Huyen Nguyen, Saul Cowen, Michael Magrath, Karen Marsh, Sarah Bell, and Josh Bobruk. "Radio-tracking wildlife with drones: a viewshed analysis quantifying survey coverage across diverse landscapes." Wildlife Research 49, no. 1 (February 4, 2022): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr21033.
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Radio-tracking tagged wildlife remains a critical research technique for understanding the movements, behaviours and survival of many species. However, traditional hand-held tracking techniques on the ground are labour intensive and time consuming. Therefore, researchers are increasingly seeking new technologies to address these challenges, including drone radio-tracking receivers. Following the implementation of drone radio-tracking techniques for five different threatened species projects within different habitat and landscape types, we identified the need to quantify the relative spatial extent of surveys using both drone and hand-held techniques for each project. This was undertaken using viewshed analyses. These analyses demonstrated that survey coverage with drone-based radio-tracking was substantially greater than that of hand-held radio-tracking for all species and landscapes examined. Within mountainous landscapes, drone radio-tracking covered up to four times the area of hand-held tracking, whereas in flat to undulating landscapes, drone surveys covered up to 11.3 times the area that could be surveyed using hand-held techniques from the same locations on the ground. The viewshed analyses were also found to be a valuable visualisation tool for identifying areas for targeted surveys to reduce the risk of ‘losing’ tagged animals, which has traditionally been one of the biggest radio-tracking challenges.
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Wich, Serge, David Dellatore, Max Houghton, Rio Ardi, and Lian Pin Koh. "A preliminary assessment of using conservation drones for Sumatran orang-utan (Pongo abelii) distribution and density." Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 4, no. 1 (March 1, 2016): 45–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0015.
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To conserve biodiversity, scientists monitor wildlife populations and their habitats. Current methods have constraints, such as the costs of ground or aerial surveys, limited resolution of freely available satellite images, and expensive high-resolution satellite images. Recently researchers started to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) for wildlife and habitat monitoring. Here we tested whether we could detect nests of the critically endangered Sumatran orang-utan on imagery acquired from a camera-mounted drone to determine distribution and density. Our results show that the distribution of nests compares well between aerial and ground-based surveys and that relative density (nest/km) shows a significant correlation between these two survey types. The results also indicate that both methods can be used to detect significant differences in relative density between previously degraded reforested and enriched areas. We conclude that orang-utan nest surveys from drones are a promising survey method to determine distribution and (relative) density of Sumatran orang-utans and perhaps other ape species.
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Povlsen, Peter, Dan Bruhn, Cino Pertoldi, and Sussie Pagh. "A Novel Scouring Method to Monitor Nocturnal Mammals Using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles and Thermal Cameras—A Comparison to Line Transect Spotlight Counts." Drones 7, no. 11 (November 6, 2023): 661. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones7110661.
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Wildlife abundance surveys are important tools for making decisions regarding nature conservation and management. Cryptic and nocturnal mammals can be difficult to monitor, and methods to obtain more accurate data on density and population trends of these species are needed. We propose a novel monitoring method using an aerial drone with a laser rangefinder and high zoom capabilities for thermal imagery. By manually operating the drone, the survey area can be initially scanned in a radius of several kilometers, and when a point of interest is observed, animals could be identified from up to one kilometer away by zooming in while the drone maintains an altitude of 120 m. With the laser rangefinder, a precise coordinate of the detected animal could be recorded instantly. Over ten surveys, the scouring drone method recorded significantly more hares than traditional transect spotlight count surveys, conducted by trained volunteers scanning the same farmland area within the same timeframe (p = 0.002, Wilcoxon paired rank test). The difference between the drone method and the transect spotlight method was hare density-dependent (R = 0.45, p = 0.19, Pearson’s product–moment correlation); the larger the density of hares, the larger the difference between the two methods to the benefit of the drone method. There was a linear relation between the records of deer by the drone and by spotlight (R = 0.69, p = 0.027), while no relation was found between the records of carnivores by drone and spotlight counts. This may be due to carnivores’ speed and vigilance or lack of data. Furthermore, the drone method could cover up to three times the area within the same timeframe as the transect spotlight counts.
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Sihag, Vikas, Gaurav Choudhary, Pankaj Choudhary, and Nicola Dragoni. "Cyber4Drone: A Systematic Review of Cyber Security and Forensics in Next-Generation Drones." Drones 7, no. 7 (June 28, 2023): 430. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones7070430.
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Cyber Security and forensics for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) pose unique requirements, solutions, and challenges. As UAVs become increasingly prevalent for legitimate and illegal use, ensuring their security and data integrity is important. Solutions have been developed to tackle these security requirements. Drone forensics enables the investigation of security incidents involving UAVs, aiding in identifying attackers or determining the cause of accidents. However, challenges persist in the domain of UAV security and forensics. This paper surveys drone threat models, security, and privacy aspects. In particular, we present the taxonomy of drone forensics for investigating drone systems and talk about relevant artifacts, tools, and benchmark datasets. While solutions exist, challenges such as evolving technology and complex operational environments must be addressed through collaboration, updated protocols, and regulatory frameworks to ensure drones’ secure and reliable operation. Furthermore, we also point out the field’s difficulties and potential future directions.
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Jackisch, Robert. "Drone-based surveys of mineral deposits." Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 1, no. 4 (March 17, 2020): 187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0042-1.
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Putra, A. B., P. Arumsari, C. Cahyono, J. F. B. Sarigih, and V. Kosalim. "Building infrastructure analysis using total station and unmanned aerial vehicle drone for surveying and modelling." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1169, no. 1 (April 1, 2023): 012006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1169/1/012006.
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Abstract Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drones and Total Stations are two of some methods and tools used to conduct surveys on areas or building buildings. A UAV is a flying machine that functions with remote control by the pilot or can control itself, uses aerodynamic laws to lift itself, can reusable and can carry certain payloads. A total station is a device that is a combination of electronic theodolite, Electronic Distance Meter, and software that serves as a data collector and processor. The implementation of land surveying is one of the stages of the implementation of infrastructure development. Land survey itself is a way or method to evaluate land to get data directly from the field. Survey activities consist of field activities, making data analysis, interpretation of objectives and making survey reports. In this modern period, the technology to conduct land / land surveys often develops, namely with the total station and the use of UAV drone technology. The study aims to analyse and compare the capabilities of UAV Drones and Total Stations.
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Çetin, Ender, Alicia Cano, Robin Deransy, Sergi Tres, and Cristina Barrado. "Implementing Mitigations for Improving Societal Acceptance of Urban Air Mobility." Drones 6, no. 2 (January 18, 2022): 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6020028.
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The continuous development of technical innovations provides the opportunity to create new economic markets and a wealth of new services. However, these innovations sometimes raise concerns, notably in terms of societal, safety, and environmental impacts. This is the case for services related to the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which are emerging rapidly. Unmanned aerial vehicles, also called drones, date back to the first third of the twentieth century in aviation industry, when they were mostly used for military purposes. Nowadays, drones of various types and sizes are used for many purposes, such as precision agriculture, search and rescue missions, aerial photography, shipping and delivery, etc. Starting to operate in areas with low population density, drones are now looking for business in urban and suburban areas, in what is called urban air mobility (UAM). However, this rapid growth of the drone industry creates psychological fear of the unknown in some parts of society. Reducing this fear will play an important role in public acceptance of drone operations in urban areas. This paper presents the main concerns of society with regard to drone operations, as already captured in some public surveys, and proposes a list of mitigation measures to reduce these concerns. The proposed list is then analyzed, and its applicability to individual, urban, very large demonstration flights is explained, using the feedback from the CORUS-XUAM project. CORUS-XUAM will organize a set of very large drone flight demonstrations across seven European countries to investigate how to safely integrate drone operations into airspace with the support of the U-space.
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Shah, Kunal, Grant Ballard, Annie Schmidt, and Mac Schwager. "Multidrone aerial surveys of penguin colonies in Antarctica." Science Robotics 5, no. 47 (October 28, 2020): eabc3000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc3000.
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Speed is essential in wildlife surveys due to the dynamic movement of animals throughout their environment and potentially extreme changes in weather. In this work, we present a multirobot path-planning method for conducting aerial surveys over large areas designed to make the best use of limited flight time. Unlike current survey path-planning solutions based on geometric patterns or integer programs, we solve a series of satisfiability modulo theory instances of increasing complexity. Each instance yields a set of feasible paths at each iteration and recovers the set of shortest paths after sufficient time. We implemented our planning algorithm with a team of drones to conduct multiple photographic aerial wildlife surveys of Cape Crozier, one of the largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world containing more than 300,000 nesting pairs. Over 2 square kilometers was surveyed in about 3 hours. In contrast, previous human-piloted single-drone surveys of the same colony required over 2 days to complete. Our method reduces survey time by limiting redundant travel while also allowing for safe recall of the drones at any time during the survey. Our approach can be applied to other domains, such as wildfire surveys in high-risk weather conditions or disaster response.
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Jemali, Noor Janatun Naim, Aqilah Abdul Rahim, Mohamad Radi Mohamed Rosly, Siti Susanti, Shaparas Daliman, Marinah Muhamamad, and Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Karim. "Adopting drone technology in STEM education for rural communities." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1064, no. 1 (July 1, 2022): 012017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1064/1/012017.
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Abstract The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects have always been the most challenging topics in education. One of the reasons is the dearth use of technology, especially for underprivileged students located in rural areas. Incorporating a drone in the STEM curriculum supports education that incorporates tangible experience such as observations, formation of concepts as well as creating imaginative and creative thinking. A drone@school initiative was introduced to foster the ICT technical and knowledge sharing among underprivileged students, hence exposing them to the recent technology in strengthening STEM education. The project has been carried out using an online platform by introducing the theoretical and application of drones in real-life practices. The responses from this project were very encouraging whereby utilizing drones as the medium, the level of understanding in STEM education had increased to 96.6%. Besides, the respondents’ interest in STEM subjects significantly increased from 53.4% to 89.8%. The findings from the pre-and post-surveys revealed that the drone-based STEM learning approach had a positive impact on rural students’ enthusiasm and excitement.
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Han, Sung Min, Jung Ro Lee, and Kyong-Hee Nam. "Drone-Based Monitoring and Mapping for LMO Confined Field Management under the Ministry of Environment." Applied Sciences 13, no. 19 (September 24, 2023): 10627. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app131910627.
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The objective of this study was to devise effective safety management systems for enclosed living modified organism (LMO) fields regulated by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), achieved through an assessment of the impact of LM crops on the surrounding flora. A combination of conventional survey methods and cutting-edge drone-based monitoring systems was employed, with a keen focus on their efficacy. Our investigation spans three distinct zones (forest, non-forest, and enclosed field), involving vegetation surveys, biodiversity index analyses, and drone-powered aerial observations to study topographical shifts. Over time, wild plants adjacent to the enclosed LMO field exhibited stability in terms of species composition. Nevertheless, disparities in growth patterns emerged across various areas. Predominantly, herbs thrived in enclosed and non-forest areas, while trees and shrubs flourished in forested regions. Annual plants predominantly populated the non-forest regions, whereas perennials dominated the forested areas. To this end, drones captured aerial photographs of a 31.65-hectare expanse with 40% coverage overlap, furnishing a real-time vegetation map that transcends the capacities of conventional methods. By combining vegetation surveys, drone-generated vegetation mapping, and dynamic monitoring of topographical changes, our research endeavors to facilitate the formulation of a robust safety management framework for LMO confined fields overseen by the MOE. This holistic approach aspires to prevent ecosystem contamination and establish a resilient, enduring system that averts LMO leakage, thereby safeguarding the environment.
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Bennett, Mary K., Nicolas Younes, and Karen Joyce. "Automating Drone Image Processing to Map Coral Reef Substrates Using Google Earth Engine." Drones 4, no. 3 (August 28, 2020): 50. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones4030050.
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While coral reef ecosystems hold immense biological, ecological, and economic value, frequent anthropogenic and environmental disturbances have caused these ecosystems to decline globally. Current coral reef monitoring methods include in situ surveys and analyzing remotely sensed data from satellites. However, in situ methods are often expensive and inconsistent in terms of time and space. High-resolution satellite imagery can also be expensive to acquire and subject to environmental conditions that conceal target features. High-resolution imagery gathered from remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS or drones) is an inexpensive alternative; however, processing drone imagery for analysis is time-consuming and complex. This study presents the first semi-automatic workflow for drone image processing with Google Earth Engine (GEE) and free and open source software (FOSS). With this workflow, we processed 230 drone images of Heron Reef, Australia and classified coral, sand, and rock/dead coral substrates with the Random Forest classifier. Our classification achieved an overall accuracy of 86% and mapped live coral cover with 92% accuracy. The presented methods enable efficient processing of drone imagery of any environment and can be useful when processing drone imagery for calibrating and validating satellite imagery.
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Benavides, Martin T., F. Joel Fodrie, and David W. Johnston. "Shark detection probability from aerial drone surveys within a temperate estuary." Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 8, no. 1 (March 1, 2020): 44–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2019-0002.
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Drones are easy to operate over metres-to-kilometre scales, making them potentially useful to monitor species distributions and habitat use in shallow estuaries with widely varying environmental conditions. To investigate the utility of drones for surveying bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) across estuarine environmental gradients, we deployed decoys, fashioned to mimic sharks, in the field. Decoys were placed in two flight areas (0.8 km2 each) in shallow (<2 m) water near Beaufort, N.C., on five days during 2015–2016. Survey flights were conducted using a fixed-wing drone (senseFly eBee) equipped with a digital camera. Images were indexed for combinations of six environmental factors across flights. Images representative of all (N = 36) observed environmental combinations were sent to a group of 15 scientists who were asked to identify sharks in each image. Non-parametric rank-sum comparisons and regression tree analysis on resultant detection probabilities highlighted depth as having the largest, statistically reliable influence on detection probabilities, with decreasing detection probabilities at increased depth. Detection probabilities were higher during midday flights, with notable effects of wind speed and cloud presence also apparent. Our study highlights depth as a first-order factor constraining the temperate estuarine habitats over which drones may reliably quantify sharks (i.e., <0.75 m).
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Qubaa, Abdalrahman, and Saja Al-Hamdani. "Detecting abuses in archaeological areas using k-mean clustering analysis and UAVs/drones data." Przegląd Naukowy Inżynieria i Kształtowanie Środowiska 30, no. 1 (April 1, 2021): 182–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.22630/pniks.2021.30.1.16.
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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have made great progress in aerial surveys to research and discover heritage sites and archaeological areas, particularly after having developed their technical capabilities to carry various sensors onboard, whether they are conventional cameras, multispectral cameras, and thermal sensors. The objective of this research is to use the drone technology and k-mean clustering algorithm for the first time in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq to reveal the extent of civil excesses and random construction, as well as the looting and theft that occur in the archaeological areas. DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone was used, in addition to using the specialized Pix4D program to process drone images and make mosaics for them. Multiple flights were performed using a drone to survey multiple locations throughout the area and compare them with satellite images during different years. Drone’s data classification was implemented using a k-means clustering algorithm. The results of the data classification for three different time periods indicated that the percentage of archaeological lands decreased from 90.31% in 2004 to 25.29% in 2018. Where the work revealed the extent of the archaeological area’s great violations. The study also emphasized the importance of directing authorities of local antiquities to ensure the use of drone’s technology to obtain statistical and methodological reports periodically to assess archaeological damage and to avoid overtaking, stolen and looted of these sites.
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Oh, Chae Yeon, and Kye Won Jun. "Utilizing Drones in Landslide-prone Areas: A Case Study on Mountain Roads." Crisis and Emergency Management: Theory and Praxis 19, no. 11 (December 30, 2023): 63–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.14251/crisisonomy.2023.19.11.63.
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Recently, there has been a notable surge in landslides due to heavy rainfall, resulting in increasing devastation to residential areas and downstream transportation networks. In regions prone to landslides, proactive disaster mitigation through continuous monitoring is of utmost importance. Drones offer a distinct advantage, as they can capture high-resolution images efficiently and at a low cost, even in challenging terrains such as steep slopes or hard-to-reach areas, enabling precise terrain analysis. In this study, in order to investigate mountain road slopes where landslides frequently occur, drone surveys were conducted on road slopes in Dogye-eup, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do, and orthoimages and 3D models expressed as digital surface models(DSM) were generated. In addition, the digital map and drone terrain data were compared, and in the case of slope, the drone data were analysed as 43°, which was very similar to the trend of 44° shown on the digital map. As a result of the comparative analysis of the drone orthophotos and recent aerial photographs, it was confirmed that the surface sliding area has increased.
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Adel, Amr, and Tony Jan. "Watch the Skies: A Study on Drone Attack Vectors, Forensic Approaches, and Persisting Security Challenges." Future Internet 16, no. 7 (July 13, 2024): 250. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fi16070250.
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In the rapidly evolving landscape of drone technology, securing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) presents critical challenges and demands unique solutions. This paper offers a thorough examination of the security requirements, threat models, and solutions pertinent to UAVs, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity and drone forensics. This research addresses the unique requirements of UAV security, outlines various threat models, and explores diverse solutions to ensure data integrity. Drone forensics, a field dedicated to the investigation of security incidents involving UAVs, has been extensively examined and demonstrates its relevance in identifying attack origins or establishing accident causes. This paper further surveys artifacts, tools, and benchmark datasets that are critical in the domain of drone forensics, providing a comprehensive view of current capabilities. Acknowledging the ongoing challenges in UAV security, particularly given the pace of technological advancement and complex operational environments, this study underscores the need for increased collaboration, updated security protocols, and comprehensive regulatory frameworks. Ultimately, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of UAV cybersecurity and aids in fostering future research into the secure and reliable operation of drones.
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Woo, Hyun-Jung, and Dong-Min Seo. "Selection of Factors for Performance Evaluation of Fire-fighting Drones based on Delphi Techniques." Fire Science and Engineering 37, no. 2 (April 30, 2023): 52–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.7731/kifse.83b00abd.
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This study aimed to identify the factors that can be used to evaluate the performance standards of fire-fighting drones employed in various fire-fighting missions. For this purpose, several common and uncommon performance factors were obtained by analyzing prior data from domestic and foreign research, analyses, and evaluations and three rounds of Delphi surveys were conducted. Through the consensus of a panel of experts, a total of 32 fire drone performance evaluations were classified into four evaluation categories: airframe (basic performance), battery, Ground Control System and controller, and mission equipment. This study identifies metrics for assessing the performance of fire-fighting drones and provides recommendations for their evaluation. The outcome of this study is expected to significantly contribute in future to the development of drone performance evaluation manuals with established criteria and methods for each item.
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Fisk, Kerstin, Jennifer L. Merolla, and Jennifer M. Ramos. "Emotions, Terrorist Threat, and Drones: Anger Drives Support for Drone Strikes." Journal of Conflict Resolution 63, no. 4 (May 3, 2018): 976–1000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022002718770522.
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In this article, we investigate how threat perceptions and emotions can jointly impact individuals’ attitudes toward drone strikes. We argue that conditions of threat can increase public support for the use of drone strikes. We further contend that the effect of threat perceptions on support for drone strikes is mediated by negative, emotional reactions, particularly anger. We test our arguments in France, the United States, and Turkey using data generated from nationally representative online surveys, in which individuals were randomly assigned to a control group, a condition in which they read about terrorist threat (with or without a reminder of democratic values), or a condition in which they read about economic threats. Our findings have implications for long-standing notions about the roles of rational calculations and psychological processes in influencing support for aggressive foreign policy.
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Povlsen, Peter, Anne Cathrine Linder, Hanne Lyngholm Larsen, Petar Durdevic, Daniel Ortiz Arroyo, Dan Bruhn, Cino Pertoldi, and Sussie Pagh. "Using Drones with Thermal Imaging to Estimate Population Counts of European Hare (Lepus europaeus) in Denmark." Drones 7, no. 1 (December 21, 2022): 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones7010005.
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Drones equipped with thermal cameras have recently become readily available, broadening the possibilities for monitoring wildlife. The European hare (Lepus europaeus) is a nocturnal mammal that is closely monitored in Denmark due to populations declining since the mid-1900s. The limitations of current population-assessment methods, such as, spotlight counts and hunting game statistics, could be overcome by relying on drone surveys with thermal imaging for population counts. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced drone with thermal imaging as a tool for monitoring the Danish hare population. Multiple test flights were conducted over agricultural areas in Denmark in spring 2022, testing various flight altitudes, camera settings, and recording methods. The test flights were used to suggest a method for identifying and counting hares. The applied use of this methodology was then evaluated through a case survey that had the aim of identifying and counting hares over an agricultural area of 242 ha. Hares could be detected with thermal imaging at flight altitudes up to 80 m, and it was possible to fly as low as 40 m without observing direct behaviorial changes. Thermal images taken at these altitudes also provided enough detail to differentiate between species, and animal body size proved to be a good species indicator. The case study supported the use of thermal imaging-based drone surveys to identify hares and conduct population counts, thus indicating the suggested methodology as a viable alternative to traditional counting methods.
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Zhu, Chunyan, Rong Li, Jinming Luo, Xi Li, Juan Du, Jun Ma, Chaoping Hou, and Weizhen Zeng. "Research on Evaluating the Characteristics of the Rural Landscape of Zhanqi Village, Chengdu, China, Based on Oblique Aerial Photography by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Sustainability 16, no. 12 (June 17, 2024): 5151. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su16125151.
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To achieve the transition of rural areas from traditional to modern, the visualization of rural landscape data and feature evaluations are essential. Landscape character assessment (LCA) is a well-established tool that was developed to assess and understand rural landscape features. In recent years, drones have become increasingly attractive for various applications and services due to their low costs and relative ease of operation. Unlike most previous studies that relied solely on drone-based remote sensing or visual esthetic evaluations, this study proposes an innovative assessment method based on landscape characteristic assessment (LCA) and oblique drone photography technology, supported by specific data and survey results. These include various landscape metrics, such as the Shannon diversity index (SHDI), Shannon evenness index (SHEI), vegetation coverage, landscape character zoning, and delineations of various ecologically sensitive areas. This method was applied to study Zhanqi Village in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China and revealed some unique characteristics of this village. By categorizing and describing the landscape features, the study makes judgments and decisions about them. This is a beneficial attempt to apply the scientific methods of landscape assessments to the production management of aerial drone surveys. This method provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating rural landscape features and demonstrates that the combination of LCA and oblique drone photography technology is feasible for rural landscape research. Additionally, this study emphasizes the need for further research to explore the potential application of this method in continuously evolving urban and rural environments in the future.
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Irigoin-Lovera, Cinthia, Diana M. Luna, Diego A. Acosta, and Carlos B. Zavalaga. "Response of colonial Peruvian guano birds to flying UAVs: effects and feasibility for implementing new population monitoring methods." PeerJ 7 (December 11, 2019): e8129. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8129.
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Background Drones are reliable tools for estimating colonial seabird numbers. Although most research has focused on methods of improving the accuracy of bird counts, few studies have evaluated the impacts of these methods on bird behavior. In this study, we examined the effects of the DJI Phantom 3 drone approach (altitude, horizontal and vertical descent speeds) on changes in the intensity of behavioral response of guano birds: guanay cormorants (Phalacrocorax bougainvilli), Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata) and Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus). The breeding and non-breeding condition was also evaluated. Methods Eleven locations along the Peruvian coast were visited in 2016–2017. Drone flight tests considered an altitude range from 5 to 80 m from the colony level, a horizontal speed range from 0.5 to 15 m/s, and a vertical descent speed range from 0.5 to 3 m/s. The intensity of the behavioral response of birds was scored and categorized as: 0-no reacting, 1-head pointing to the drone (HP), 2-wing flapping (WF), 3-walking/running (WR) and 4-taking-off/flying (TK). Drone noise at specific altitudes was recorded with a sound meter close to the colony to discriminate visual from auditory effects of the drone. Results In 74% of all test flights (N = 507), guano birds did not react to the presence of the drone, whereas in the remaining flights, birds showed a sign of discomfort: HP (47.7%, N = 130), WF (18.5%), WR (16.9%) and TK (16.9%). For the drone approach tests, only flight altitude had a significant effect in the intensity of the behavioral response of guano birds (intensity behavioral response <2). No birds reacted at drone altitudes above 50 m from the colony. Birds, for all species either in breeding or non-breeding condition, reacted more often at altitudes of 5 and 10 m. Chick-rearing cormorants and pelicans were less sensitive than their non-breeding counterparts in the range of 5–30 m of drone altitude, but boobies reacted similarly irrespective of their condition. At 5 m above the colony, cormorants were more sensitive to the drone presence than the other two species. Horizontal and vertical flights at different speeds had negligible effects (intensity behavioral response <1). At 2 m above the ground, the noise of the cormorant colony was in average 71.34 ± 4.05 dB (N = 420). No significant differences were observed in the drone noise at different flight altitudes because the background noise of the colony was as loud as the drone. Conclusions It is feasible to use the drone DJI Phantom 3 for surveys on the guano islands of Peru. We recommend performing drone flights at altitudes greater than 50 m from guano bird colonies and to select take-off spots far from gulls. Likewise, this study provides a first step to develop guidelines and protocols of drone use for other potential activities on the Peruvian guano islands and headlands such as surveys of other seabirds and pinnipeds, filming and surveillance.