Unmanned aerial systems (drones)

How we use UAS

The benefits that UAS offer the fields of environmental monitoring and conservation are being realized by an ever-increasing number of researchers and scientists. UAS provide quick, easy, and cost-effective insights, on demand.

The applications for UAS vary widely, but can be used to capture high-resolution imagery and video that give scientists and incident responders a new perspective and important information that supports data-driven, real-time decision making.

How we apply UAS in our work

• Aerial photography/videography
• Coastal erosion monitoring
• Spill response/emergency response
• Mapping and site inspections
• Structure-from-motion modeling 
• Lidar (light detection and ranging)
• Temporal change monitoring
• Air and water quality surveys 
• Communications products and storytelling

How UAS benefit our environmental work

• Safer fieldwork. Drones keep staff out of hazardous areas such as unstable slopes, steep shorelines, flooded sites, and contaminated ground.
• Broader coverage. Large landscapes like watersheds, wetlands, and coastlines can be surveyed in a fraction of the time it would take on foot.
• Better data. High-resolution imagery, thermal infrared, multispectral, and LiDAR sensors capture conditions that are hard to see or measure from the ground.
• Repeatable monitoring. Flights can be repeated over the same area to track changes over time, such as shoreline erosion, vegetation recovery, or restoration progress.
• Faster, lower-cost response. Drones can be deployed quickly after a spill, flood, or other incident, without waiting on manned aircraft.

Projects

A project checklist is completed every time we use UAS to support our work. The projects approved to date are listed below.