Course Description
An introduction to the unique aspects of integrating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the sustainable natural resource management workflow. Emphasis is placed on acquisition, processing, and analysis of UAS imagery as well as the safety, ethical, and federal regulations one must consider before deploying this type of system.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to complete an original
research project that employs the methods presented in class and
will be required to prepare a course notebook documenting select
concepts, methods, and applications.
Athena Title
Unmanned Aerial Sys in Nat Res
Undergraduate Prerequisite
(FANR 3800 and FANR 3800L) or (FANR 4201 and FANR 4201L)
Graduate Prerequisite
(FANR 3800 and FANR 3800L) or (FANR 6201 and FANR 6201L)
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Recent advances in UAS technology are allowing for the collection of large volumes of high-resolution information suitable for use in many natural resource management workflows. Throughout the semester, students will gain practical experience planning missions, processing techniques for two- and three-dimensional analysis and their application for natural resource management and planning operations. Expected learning outcomes for students enrolled in this class are to: 1. Understand the advantages of and the differences among current UAS technologies and how the data acquired by them differ from traditional aerial platforms; 2. Become familiar with the ever-changing UAS safety, ethics, and compliance landscape; 3. Be able to describe when the use of this technology is advantageous and when it is not; 4. Be able to plan a UAS mission and to monitor data collection; 5. Use UAS data to create orthophotos, 3-dimensional terrain models, and to perform volumetric measurements; and to 6. Apply UAS-based information to data analysis as it relates to forestry, fisheries and wildlife, natural resources recreation and tourism, and water and soil management.
Topical Outline
1. Introduction to UAS operation and its application in natural resource management 2. Safety, ethics, and compliance 3. Comparison of traditional aerial photography and UAS- based imagery a. Temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution 4. Introduction to structure from motion and a survey of commercial and open source UAS image processing software 5. Mission planning and image acquisition 6. Image processing and quality control a. Orthophoto creation b. 3D terrain model generation c. Volumetric measurements 7. Applications in natural resource management a. Forestry: individual tree analysis; monitoring of general stand condition, effectiveness of vegetation treatments, reforestation efforts, harvesting efforts, and BMP compliance b. Fish/Wildlife: population surveys and habitat monitoring c. Hydrology: runoff d. Recreation: see the forest from a unique perspective
Syllabus
Public CV