3/3/21
1
CAN DRONES BE USEFUL IN ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORK?
Dr. Laurent Duvergé
1
ØPart 1:-Ø1. Who am I?Ø2 General Introduction to dronesØ3. Platforms
ØPart 2:-Ø4. Sensors
ØPart 3:-Ø5. The legal stuffØ6. Commissioning surveys
2
3
3/3/21
2
My career:-Ø1988- Lancaster BSc in Ecology
Ø1988-1990- Mauritius (2 years) Mauritius kestrel, Pink pigeon, Echo parakeet & other native wildlife
ØLondon Zoo- Animal Husbandry of various raptors & other birds, Pudu deer, Tapirs
Ø1990-91- (WILDCRU, Oxford Uni) Deer (Fallow, Roe), Badgers, Swans
Ø(WWT, Slimbridge) Lesser flamingoes breeding study
Ø1991- Introduced to the world of batsØ1996- Bristol PhD on Greater Horseshoe Bats (Prof G Jones)Ø1996-2008- Vincent Wildlife Trust (GH specialist, conservation research & reserve management)Ø2005-now- Ecological Consultant specialising in bats (UK & Cont. Europe, 1o horseshoes bats)
ØOutside of work:-Ø Very keen interest in deer, archery & all things that can be paddledØ Dabbled in radio-controlled planes & gliders since m y teensØ & m ore recently (last 6-7 years or so) Drones.
4
DRONESNamed after male bees whose only job is
“to mate and die!”
5
ØThe rise of drones:-
Ø1930s- US Army/Navy- Expansive programme of using drones as targets for training anti-aircraft battery/gun crews (Consequently, the drone crews’ m oto was “to fly and die!”)
Ø1950s-present day- Increasing use & weaponisation throughout all branches of the military (Navy first, then other branches) for target assessments, reconnaissance, surveillance, targeted attacks & strikes.
ØBad reputation over the last 20-30 years!
ØHowever, there are, hopefully, better times ahead? (at least in the civilian sector)
ØSince mid-00s:-
Ø Increasingly peace-oriented use of the technology within the “civilian” commercial marketplace (initially through the industrial, inspection, agriculture & film industry sectors), gradual adoption for SAR & Emergency services, amongst others.
Ø As well as the development of a “Drones for Good” code of conductØ with operators dedicated to the peaceful use of available m ilitary technologyØ and actively encouraged to sign up the DfG charter.
6
3/3/21
3
Where could drones be useful?
ØAnywhere one can:-Ø Increase safetyØ Decrease costsØ Save timeØ Or some combination of all of the above
ØReduction in carbon footprint
7
A little bit of Pub quiz triviaØFor those of us who are soon to
be allowed back in the pub!
ØWhat did Norma Jean Baker (a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe) do during WWII?
ØHer first ever publicity shot showed her working as drone engine fitter for the US Army
8
PLATFORMS
9
3/3/21
4
Types of drone platforms:-Ø2 main types
Ø Fixed winged platform sØ Plane “lookalikes” or Flying wings (no fuselage) Traditional/bungee/catapult launch & landingØ VTOL- Vertical Take Off & Landing
Ø Multicopters 2 m ain types:-Propellers in a single plane Q u ad co p ters (m o st co m m o n ), H exaco p ters , O c to co p ters
Propellers in a double plane Y 6, X 8
ØMain differencesØ Flight duration 30-50m ins (MultiC) – >1.5hrs (com m ercially-available FW Ps)
Ø Area coverage M2P- 15acres/10m in, 80acres/hr (MultiC)- up to 2-500acres/hr (caFW Ps)
Ø2 main configurationsØ Flying sensor(s) Platform with 1x/2x/3x integrated sensors (e.g. M2pro/zoom, Parrot Anafi Thermal/USA)Ø Platform & payloads Platform with multiple replaceable sensors (e.g. Matrice 300, Acecore Zoe)
10
My fleet:-
11
The march of DJIØDJI (World’s largest drone manufacturing company, based in China)
Ø Started operating in 2006, really came to prominence c. 2010
Ø Innovative technology & aggressive marketing quickly killed off multitudes of smaller drone manufacturers across the globe
Ø c.75-80% of the consumer/prosumer market by 2018
Ø Has recently suffered due to the US-China trade issues (more below)- experiencing a gradual decrease in market share
Ø Today (2021) account for c.70% of the consumer/prosumer drones on the market
Ø Still the platforms most likely to be encountered in the UKØ Will continue to be a force in the market for the foreseeable future, however…
ØFacing increased competition since the US/China trade issues (under both Trump & Biden administrations) due to:-
Ø New rules governing US Federal funding for drone programmesØ Instigation of the USA’s “Blue (read “Friendly”) UAS Programme”
Ø resulting in the resurgence of smaller manufacturers (Parrot, Skydio, Autel, AceCore, Quantum, Wingtra etc…)Ø driving developments in weatherproofing, autonomy, the use of AI etc…
Ø All in all, the future is exciting, even for run-of-the-mill platforms!
P ho tos C red it:-D JI
12
3/3/21
5
Specialised/custom platforms:-ØRadio-tracking drone (Wildlife Drone, Australia)
Ø Modified DJI M200 & 300 platforms designed specifically to radio-track:-Ø Fast moving animals &/o those that travel long distances (e.g. parakeets)Ø And across rough terrain
Ø Up to 100 animals tracked simultaneously
ØBaiting dronesØ NZ Wildlife Service pest control/eradication programmeØ Great for baiting rough terrain with a “terrain follow” mode
ØSpraying dronesØ Adapted crop sprayers used for targeted spraying to minimise chemical inputsØ Uses “terrain follow” technology to maximise spraying efficiency
ØSeeding drones (for landscape restoration)Ø Dendra Systems (Oz, formally Biocarbon Engineering (UK)), DroneSeed (USA), AirSeed (ZA/Oz joint venture)Ø Large platforms (some using adapted paintball technology) to re-seed large areas of land, sometimes
working in swarms (currently up to 5, planning to go up to 15 simultaneously!).Ø 80% cheaper than manual planting, up to 40a/20k seeds/day/drone, cf. 800 saplings planted manually pp!Ø Great for tough environments (mangroves in SE Asia, Oz/US Pacific coast forests reseeding post fires…)
ØSnotbotØ Original platform- very fast A4-sized racing drone (could reach 90mph) that carried a petri dish + growth
medium plateØ Originally adapted by NZ/Oz scientists to collect “whale snot” for health monitoringØ Modified and now used world-wide on several whale health/hormone/DNA-study programmes
P ho to C red it:- O cean A lliance
P ho to C red it:- D JI
P ho to C red it:-D roneS eed
13
SENSORS
14
Standard RGB Camera/video:-ØThe most common one likely to be encountered
Ø “Visible” range (c.400-700nm ) of the Electrom agnetic Spectrum
ØHas “Broad” Red-Green-Blue response curveØ Typically 100-150nm per colour (50-75nm each side of its m ost
sensitive detection value)Ø lots of overlap between the sensorsØ no “true” values from any of the sensorsØ can be an issue for data collection
ØGenerally used every day for:-Ø High quality videoØ High quality photography
ØVery good for pre-survey reconnaissance & site documentation
Ø BSG cliff photography to com plem ent rope access workØ KW C testing flythroughs of various road options on a project near
Bath
G raph C red it:- TechB rie fs .com & C hrom asensG m bH
15
3/3/21
6
Image quality (Im agery of barns/workshop/yard com plex from satellite com pared with a drone)
G E sa te llite pho to show s the perspective and best reso lu tion ava ilab le from an a ltitude equ iva len t to an obse rva tion he igh t o f 124m .
A dvantages/d isadvantages :- C an cover M U C H la rger a reas. G ood a t the landscape sca le . S e t flyove r da tes (o ften years apart!).
D rone pho to show s the pe rspective and low es t reso lu tion ach ieved from an a ltitude (ac tua l observa tion he igh t) o f 128 ft (1 .6m p jpeg saved vers ion o ff a 12m p jpeg o rig ina l pho tog raph )
A dvantages/d isadvantages :- G rea t fo r p ro jec ts & sm a ll-m ed areas. M U C H h ighe r reso lu tion . F ly w hen I w ant, & re -flie s a re easy.
16
Basic DocumentationExample 1:- (right place : right time)Documentation of movement patterns of badgers across fields in snow, highlighting key crossing point prior to habitat management. Holland, Jan 2021.
P ho to c red its :- Lars van P e ij (Veren ig ing N ederlandsC u ltuurlandschap/ U W agen ingen, H o lland )
17
Basic documentation + basic post-PExample 2:-Devon Beaver Re-introduction project- simple documentation and drone photography to follow dam & pond development over time
P ho to C red it:- D r A lan P uttock , U o f E xe te r (D ep t. o f G eog raphy)
Im age ry post-p rocessed in P ix4D & ponds de linea ted in Q -G IS .
18
3/3/21
7
But, there is so much more one can do with a basic RGB sensor…
ØDirect Site documentationØ Building surveys (imagery of complex roof systems/inaccessible places)
Ø Documenting Potential roosting features (buildings & trees)
Ø Site progress follow-ups & fly-throughs- (mapping in the 4th dimension)Ø Mapping of vegetation and landscape features (in true colour and through Photogrammetric processing)
ØPhotogrammetry-Ø Software-based stitching of photos to produce 2D & 3D modelling/reconstruction of land surfaces,
buildings, structures (e.g. bridges, viaducts, aqueducts, buildings and trees), DEMs & DTMs, & their follow-up interpretation.
ØBoth video and photo outputs can also be analysed through AI or machine learning protocols & algorithms (e.g. OBIA)
Ø Automated recognition and counting of “things”Ø From agriculture (oil palm tree crowns, lettuces & crop weeds) to wildlife applications (penguins, seals, breeding birds, orangutan
nests, chimps etc…)Ø Great time saver.
19
Example 3a:- Photogrammetric principles
P ic tu re C red it:- D r R ichard A lw ard , A rid lands LLC , G rand Junction , C o lo rado .
20
Example 3b:-Post-mining monitoring of the restoration of mule deer habitat on rangeland in Colorado, USA.
P ic tu re C red it:- D r R ichard A lw ard , A rid lands LLC , G rand Junction , C o lo rado .
21
3/3/21
8
Narrow-band multispectral imagery (for Remote Sensing)
Ø Collects narrow-band information in 3-10 bands across a wider part of the EM spectrum range than for broadband RGB data (typical range blue-NIR 400-900nm for UAVs).
Ø 200nm more in the Infra-red part of the spectrum cf. broadband sensors
Ø “Narrow” bandwidth- typically 10-15nm wide (5-8nm either side of each band’s peak sensitivity)Ø Good for data collectionØ distinct data points/sampling bands.Ø True radiation values per channel
Ø Location of sampling bands adjusted to avoid the regions affected by atmospheric absorption by water, oxygen and CO2.
G raph C red it:- N ick84 v ia W ik im ed ia C om m ons
G raph C red it:- TechB rie fs .com
22
Band comparisonsØ Newer system s, e.g. M icaSense 10-band
sensor (2x5 band configuration), m im ics
closely freely-available Satellite data
channels (e.g. Sentinel 2A, Landsat 8), allowing for rem ote sensing at the m icro
scale (<8cm cf. >10m for satellites), and for
direct com parisons between the respective
data sets.
G raph & P ho to C red its :- M icaS ense
23
The importance of using narrow bands- Narrow bands allow you to see changes m ore readily
Ø Measuring narrow spectral bands allows for:-Ø The production of plant indices (NDVI/NDRE/CI etc…) to
m onitor:-Ø Crop healthØ Drought stressØ Effect of chemical inputs (e.g. from Severn Trent Water)
Ø The classification & characterisation of:-Ø Land coverØ Land useØ Habitats
Ø Monitoring:-Ø Pests & invasive speciesØ Algal blooms …G raph cred its :- M icaS ense
24
3/3/21
9
Example 4:- Habitat mapping in Penzing, Germany (example datasets available through the MicaSense website)
P ho to C red its :- M icaS ense & Q uantum -S ystem s
C h lo rophy ll Index ↴�
F C C om pos ite B ands 9 , 6 , & 1 →
F C C B 961- C anopy d iffe ren tia tion a llow ing c lass ifica tion post g round -tru th ing
Key:-N secto r- A gricu ltu re (various)B righ t b lue lakes- ongo ing g rave l ex trac tionLakes E & W o f above- priva te fish ingB ig lake in S W secto r- P ub lic ba th ingS and N E tree cove r- fo res try
Equ ipm en t:-Q uan tum Trin ity F 90+ (F W P )M S D ua l and A ltum senso rsF low n a t 110m , G S D 8cm /p ixe l (reso lu tion )152H a in 92m in3388 p ics (x10) (33880 to ta l da tase t)P rocessed in C orre la to r 3D & Q -G IS
25
Example 5:- Algal bloom monitoring in Penzing, Germany
P ho to /D ata C red its :- M icaS ense & Q uantum -S ystem s
26
Thermal (short-wave IR) sensors (1).ØVery new to the marketØAdapted from the industrial inspection sector (originally using FLIR technology)ØWork just like the hand-held units available for bat work
ØRange of colour palettes (red hot, white hot, black hot, Kaleidoscope)
ØBest resolution currently available:-Ø 640x512 30Hz in both radio- and non-radiom etric configurationsØ Good zoom ranges (both optical and digital)- much better than hand-held units in that respect
ØRely on a high Delta-T to be effectiveØ △T - the temperature differential between the object under scrutiny and its surrounding environmentØ e.g. During Inger Kaergaard’s BOG presentation (Jan 2021) on noctule roosts in Copenhagen, Steve Coyne commented @
flying at night…
Ø Available both as stand-alone sensor for “Platform & Payload” setup, or as a “flying sensor”Ø Disadvantage- relatively high cost
27
3/3/21
10
Thermal (short-wave IR) sensors (2).ØJust as their hand held counterparts, drone-mounted thermal sensors can be
very good for wildlife surveys in difficult environments:-Ø US- rangeland nest surveys, & surveys of gam e bird coveys, deer/bear/goat surveysØ W ildlife Drones (Oz)- Koala surveys post firesØ Upcom ing surveys in the pipeline include:-
Ø Gam e Conservancy- Deer surveys in W alesØ Durrell Institute/LivJM Uni- survey of reed lem urs on Lake Alaotra, Madagascar
ØBeware!Ø Unlike in Hollywood, thermal cameras cannot see through walls!
Ø W ildlife Drones Australian bittern studyØ Thermal was useless in finding nests due to >3m high vegetationØ Relied instead on using the thermal signature of birds located along the edges of reedbeds, to zoom in and
confirm ID/nos. with a high resolution RGB camera.
28
Other specialized sensors:-ØLiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)
Ø Relies on laser technology, sampling millions of points/m2,
Ø Size of a coffee mug, weighs a few 100 grams, easy payload for med- to large platformsØ Extremely good at penetrating vegetation coverØ Very good for creating 3D (structural, DEM & DTM ) modelsØ Very good at picking up thin structures (e.g. power lines & towers, masts …)Ø Can be combined with RGB information for colourising the point clouds
Ø better interpretation of the dataØ BIG disadvantage- Costs a small fortune!
ØOthers:-Ø Terrestrial applications
Ø Magnetom eters, Ground penetrating Radar, Gas sam plers
Ø Aquatic applicationsØ W ater sam pling (eDNA?), Bathym etry (channel profiles & depth m easurem ents)
Ø Side-scanning Radar (obstructions, underwater 3D m apping of structures)
29
The Legal Stuff you need to know!whether providing a drone service OR commissioning work
Please let’s avoid another Gatwick furore at all costs!
30
3/3/21
11
ØFlying drones commercially is a Medium-High Risk operationØ If you don’t believe me, follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJu4kmcy8gQØOr type “Marcel Hirscher 2015 drone accident” in a browser.
ØAll commercial providers must be:-1. Trained and licenced
1. DMARES- Govt schem e to register individual pilots (hobby or com m ) & drone operators2. Equipm ent labelled correctly with your com m ercial operator num ber3. Hold the relevant certification
1. A2CofC- A2 Certificate of Com petency (as of Jan 1st 2021) Abs m inim um as a CO2. PfCO- Perm ission for Com m ercial Operation (valid until 31 Dec 2022)3. GVC- General Visual Line of Sight Certificate (as of Jan 1st 2021)
2. Approved, and insured, for the work undertaken1. VLOS- Visual Line of Sight operations (m ax 500m radius/400’ altitude AGL)2. EVLOS- Extended VLOS operations (up to 1.5-2km radius/400’ altitude AGL)3. BVLOS- Beyond VLOS operations (>EVLOS range, 400’ altitudeAGL) (v . co m p lica te d )
4. Above 400’ altitude AGL- Only perm itted under a CAA Operational Safety Case (v . u n like ly fo r eco lo g y/en viro n m en ta l w o rk)
Ø If you are commissioning work:-ØCheck their credentialsØ Ultim ately you could be liable if things go badly wrong.
31
Then, ask yourself….
What’s the Job?
32
ØThe 4 key points to consider are:-
Ø1. What information are you after?
Ø2. Therefore, what output(s) do you require?Ø Straight photo, DEM, DTM, false colour imageryØ Additional post-processing?
Ø3. What resolution do you need?Ø What is the smallest item you would want to see?Ø Key to determine the GSD and flight height/speed requirements
Ø4. What level of “relative” (intrinsic/model) and “absolute” (external/GPS) accuracy are you after?
Ø Relative- relatively easy these daysØ Absolute- not straightforward, needs human inputsØ Centimeter-/meter-level; Does it matter?Ø Path erosion & shifting gravel bars as examples
33
3/3/21
12
ØAnswering these questions will inform or determine:-
1. The sensor(s) needed (& possibly shutter types)
2. The platform(s) needed to fly the project (FW, Multirotor, Duration, Area of coverage…)
3. The GSD (ground sampling distance) you need4. The level of absolute (GPS) accuracy of the project (Note:- manpower requirements increase substantially as you
go down the list!)1. Basic GPS Platform (m ost com m only encountered) + 3m2. RTK-based GPS platform (no RTK/PPK post processing) + 0.5m (50cm )3. RTK-based GPS platform + RTK/PPK processing c. 2-4cm4. Basic GPS platform + GCP inputs for correction of GPS c. 2-3cm5. As 3. above + GCP input for correction of GPS c. 1-2cm
5. How you collect the data (manual or automated flight, flight speed & height, degree of overlap)
6. What software to use for interpretation7. How much post-processing is necessary and, ultimately8. The total costs of the project. P ho to C red it:-
P rope lle r A eropo in ts
34
CAN DRONES BE USEFUL IN ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORK?
Right Tool/Option
Absolutely! Match Right Job
Right Place
35
Thanks to:-
ØNeil- for the invite to do this presentation
ØLars van Peij (U of Wageningen, Holland)ØDr Alan Puttock (U of Exeter, UK)ØDr Richard Alward (Aridlands LLC, USA)
ØMicaSense (& Quantum Systems)
36
3/3/21
13
ØAscent Drone Solutions are available to provide advice, brainstorm ideas and discuss your potential projects.
ØI would be very happy to hear from you if you have a project where you are considering the use of drones as an option.
If you are interested, contact me:-
Øvia email at [email protected]Øon the phone at 07884 341683Øor through the web www.ascentdronesolutions.comØ(web site operational in early April 2021)
37
