The use of drones, thermography, and other optical measuring devices

Abstract

The use of drones has almost exploded almost in the last five years in Finland. The utilization of drones has increased and more and more applications have emerged. In addition to video cameras, thermal cameras and hyperspectral cameras have been used as well as their combinations. The use of thermography has been more qualitative, as in case of thermography in general when devices became more common and the prices lowered. The progress of optical measurement devices and image processing software will give more and more opportunities for R&D. It is essential to convert data obtained from a given object to information that is beneficial to the parties - the question is about the interpretation of the images and also how to combine the information from different wavelengths. This will require knowledge of the phenomenon or subject and factors affecting it. Drones provide better opportunities to observe large areas. The most important result should be, anyway, to increase information about the subject. In this presentation some applications will be introduced: Visible video and thermography in built environment evaluation, surveillance, firefighting and thermography and hyperspectral in agriculture. The possible future applications will be will be evaluated. Dealing with building thermography, drones give better possibilities to scan the whole building and especially looking at the top floors and especially the roofs. The structures be known in advance and several measurements are often required under different conditions. In surveillance, people have been searched by thermography for a long time, but drones can be used more effectively than in case of airplanes or helicopters. Interesting application is thermography combined with hyperspectral scanning in agriculture. Scheduled methods, processes and routines are needed.