Unmanned aerial vehicles
New possibilities using UAV in remote sensing
of the environment Jakub KARAS

RPAS - remotely piloted aircraft system
UAS - unmanned aerial system
UAV - unmanned aerial vehicle
...is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Its flight is
controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by
the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another
vehicle

ADVANTAGES:
• significantly cheaper to operate (compared to
usage piloted machines)
• easy handling and mobility
• high flexibility for the use of machines in action
• possible to use (takeoffs and landings)
even in hard-to-reach areas
• low noise operation
• resistance - extremely dangerous locations
• high resolution images and videos
• other potential benefits of the acquisition
specific data in connection with the physical
microsensors

How to choose right UAS
Each Unmanned Aerial System has its own specifics
with which we calculate and adjust the selection of
the purpose for which it is acquired ...

RPAS/UAS – specifications
Copter x wing types
Copter
- variability of different sensors, limited weight
- the use of mapping, through monitoring, after shooting
- vertical take-off and landing (some even from hand)
- online video transmission from the sensor
- manual x automatic flight
Wing (Plane)
- limited to mapping a predetermined sensor
- take-off from the hand or from the ramp
- landing automatic (manual)

WING UAV
take-off from the hand or from the ramp

SENSORS
• RGB camera
• Multispectral camera
• Hyperspectral camera
• Thermal camera
• Laser scanner
• Specific sensors (gas sensors etc.)

USING UAS IN ENVIRONMENT
FORESTRY
WATER
MANAGEMENT
AGRICULTURE
ACTUAL
MAPPING
ENVIRONMENT
GREEN
DOCUMENTATION
ENERGY
NATURE
INCIDENTS
CURRENTNESS x SPEED x ACCESS

AREAS OF USE
FORESTRY, WATER MANAGEMENT,
AGRICULTURE

ACTUAL ORTHOPHOTOMAPS
Current orthophoto, flying the next day depending on the weather, in a short period...
* Mokrá quarry

ACTUAL ORTHOPHOTOMAPS
Actual orthophotomaps in very high image resolution for small areas
* Timber depot in image resolution 7 mm/pixel

Orthophotos according to specific requirements
* Průhonice park – orthophoto
3 cm/pixel
Current orthophotomaps according to
specific customer requirements
(different compared to a conventional
orthophotos - WMS). Mapping during
the low clouds (without shadows),
flying the next day depending on the
weather conditions, in a short period..
Google

ORTOPHOTOMAPS NIR, NDVI, Thermal
actual orthophoto in the NIR, NDVI, thermal imaging, for vegetation indIces, precision farming,
application maps for clever agriculture machines * breeding wheat field

ACTUAL MAPPING AND AERIAL MONITORING
• Mapping the exact extent of damage in the
fields after wildlife

IDENTIFICATION ANIMALS BEFORE HARVEST
* Monitoring of wildlife and their position in the agricultural fields the day before harvest

ACTUAL MONITORING NATURE
INCIDENTS
EROSION x LANDSLIDES x FLOODINGS x FOREST CALAMITY x
WATERLOGGING x GEOLOGICAL ...

MONITORING EROSION INCIDENT
Orthophotomap erosion incident in Postupice in image resolution 1 cm/pixel

MONITORING EROSION EVENT
Orthophotomap erosion event in Postupice in image resolution 1 cm/pixel

MONITORING EROSION INCIDENT
Digital terrain model
detail digital map grooves in dimensions 10 - 20 cm

MONITORING NATURE INCIDENTS
* D8 highway landslide, textured point cloud
Mapping possible immediately after the incident. Visualization of the extent of
damage on the basis of the chosen strategy, progress and possible risks.
From one flight RPAS - aerial photography, orthophotos, high-resolution point cloud
3D model visualization ... Further options videodocumentation, aerial photos.

MONITORING NATURE INCIDENTS
* D8 highway landslide, ortophotomap in 5 cm/px

MONITORING NATURE INCIDENTS
* drainage water, waterlogging

MONITORING NATURE INCIDENTS
* geological structures

ACTUAL MAPPPING AND MONITORING
* Prague floods in 2013 from UAV

PASPORTIZATION / INVENTORY
Forest extraction

INVENTORY FROM ACTUAL ORTHOPHOTOMAP
* forest – Holýšov, 2 cm/pixel

INVENTORY
* detail stumps

IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE
SYSTEMS

The possibility of using remote sensing to identify
drainage systems
• direct identification of lines of drains, fragments until comprehensive drainage systems
(DS) using different means and acquisition of various types of data
• accurate topologies and determine their actual position
• in the field (correction of the project documentation)
• Using different outputs and sensors from UAV during different weather conditions

IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

Mapping in different time period
IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

combination with thermal mapping
IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

combination with digital surface model
IDENTIFICATIONS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

VOLUME MEASURING / MAPPING OF
THE CURRENT SITUATION

VOLUME
MEASURING
Calculations volumes
of landfill materials
and their monitoring
changes over time -
in sandpits, quarries
and mines, if we
knowing the digital
terrain model of the
original plane.

After several testing at
landfills coal mines Tušimice
the measurement accuracy
of the resulting volumes of
0.2% over the conventional
method of stereo/
photogrammetry.
* decimated point cloud
VOLUME MEASURING/MAPPING OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

VOLUME MEASURING / MAPPING OF THE CURRENT
SITUATION

Calculations volumes of landfill
materials and their monitoring
changes over time - in sandpits,
quarries and mines, if we
knowing the digital terrain
model of the original plane.
* Wood dump– orthophotomap 6 mm/pixel
* 3D model
VOLUME MEASURING

OUTPUTS
• Actual orthophotomaps and mapping (high image resolution
1 – 25 cm/pixel) in RGB or NIR
• Digital surface/terrain models (point clouds)
• Oblique and vertical aerial images, photoplans
• Spherical images and aerial virtual travels
• Aerial videodocumentations
• Aerial monitoring, pasportization
• 3D models
• Volume measuring

LEGISLATION
• registration requirement unmanned aerial means to the Civil
Aviation Authority, the allocation of a registration number
• need permits for aerial work (commercial use)
• UAV pilot exams (theoretical and practical)
• insurance UAV

Thank you…JAKUB KARAS
jakub.karas@upvision.cz
M +420 601 373 937