from gpsworld.com
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or as most civil aviation authorities now call them, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), are attracting a lot of attention lately from geospatial professionals. Common questions in their minds are:
What applications can I use it in?
What benefits can it provide to my organization or my clients (or data users)?
How do I implement such a system in my organization?
This article will cover the first two questions, while addressing some of the third as well.
High-Level System
Unmanned aircraft are either a fixed-wing (plane) or a multi-rotor (helicopter) design. Typical fixed-wing UAS available today are equipped with wide-angle cameras that fly about 100 meters, more or less, above the ground. Multi-rotors, with their ability to hover, move vertically — and even fly in reverse — may sometimes be operated at lower heights above ground.
A greater diversity of sensors are being developed and offered specifically for small UAS platforms. Some of these include near-infrared cameras, miniaturized laser imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanners, and even sensors that enable hyper-spectral or multi-spectral capabilities. The typical system runs on electrical power, and flights last between 30 and 60 minutes, often less for multi-rotors because of the greater amount of energy needed to achieve a mission. Depending on the endurance and speed of fixed-wing aircraft, typical coverage is around 1 to 1.5 square kilometers (100–150 hectares). For multi-rotors the area covered is much less; it could be as little as 10 percent to as much as 30 percent of what can be achieved with a fixed-wing UAS.
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