Wetland monitoring through the deployment of an autonomous aerial platform

Abstract

Wetlands in the Andean region have been altered and have been lost as a result of the agricultural frontier expansion and human activities. The disturbance of the paramo ecosystem by the destruction or alteration of the wetlands modifies the load and endowment of water to the hydrological systems, which provide water to main cities in the highlands. Therefore, the present work focuses on setting up the framework for wetland monitoring in the Andean paramo region using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). For this aim, the study was based on a mission profile using a fixed wing UAV incorporated with a RGB camera in one of the most documented wetlands in the Ecuadorian paramo region, Pugllohuma wetland. Furthermore, to assess the saturation of the wetland, field testing data has been collected to set the range values of saturation for the monitoring system. In the same way, a review regarding multispectral imagery for the assessment of water and vegetation indices is explored and highlighted for future work. This work is a first stage in the monitoring process and hence it aims to set a baseline study for the implementation of a more detailed methodology.