Abstract
This article presents an environmental remote sensing application using a UAV that is specifically aimed at reducing the data gap between field scale and satellite scale in soil erosion monitoring in Morocco. A fixed-wing aircraft type Sirius I (MAVinci, Germany) equipped with a digital system camera (Panasonic) is employed. UAV surveys are conducted over different study sites with varying extents and flying heights in order to provide both very high resolution site-specific data and lower-resolution overviews, thus fully exploiting the large potential of the chosen UAV for multi-scale mapping purposes. Depending on the scale and area coverage, two different approaches for georeferencing are used, based on high-precision GCPs or the UAV’s log file with exterior orientation values respectively. The photogrammetric image processing enables the creation of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and ortho-image mosaics with very high resolution on a sub-decimetre level. The created data products were used for quantifying gully and badland erosion in 2D and 3D as well as for the analysis of the surrounding areas and landscape development for larger extents.
Highlights
Small-format aerial photography (SFAP) acquired by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is gaining approval and usage for a wide range of natural resources management applications and geospatial research
Applications of UAVs and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for environmental remote sensing purposes are the focus of two special issues published in 2011
SFAPs were acquired over 13 study sites
Summary
Small-format aerial photography (SFAP) acquired by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is gaining approval and usage for a wide range of natural resources management applications and geospatial research. The military has used UAVs for decades, their availability for scientific and other public purposes is quite modern. Watts et al [1] give a detailed disquisition on the chronological development of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) as well as on their use. The scope of the paper is limited to remote sensing and scientific research. The (scientific) environmental sector in particular increasingly takes advantage of the application of UAVs. For example, applications of UAVs and UAS for environmental remote sensing purposes are the focus of two special issues published in 2011.
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