The use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for civil applications is a new perspective in the field of natural hazard phenomena. The amazing diffusion of mini- and micro-RPAS is becoming a valuable alternative to the traditional monitoring and surveying applications, opening new interesting viewpoints.
The acquisition of high resolution remotely sensed data from RPAS in areas characterized by hazardous natural processes can be a powerful instrument to quickly assess the damages and plan effective rescues without any risk for operators. The main goal of these systems is the collection of different data (e.g. images, gas or radioactivity concentrations, etc.) and the delivery of various products (e.g. 3D models, hazard maps, high-resolution orthoimages, etc.). The high repeatability of RPAS flight and their limited costs allows the multi-temporal analysis of an area too. However, methodologies, best practices, advantages and limitations of this kind of applications are yet unclear and/or poorly shared by the scientific community.
This session aims at exploring the open research issues and possible applications of RPAS in the field of monitoring and management of geo-hazards to collect experiences, case studies and results, as well as define methodologies and best practices for their effective use in geo-hazard contexts. This session will concern the contributions aiming at the survey/monitoring of different phenomena such as landslides, floods, earthquakes and volcanic areas. Papers dealing with the integration of heterogeneous sensors (gas sensor, multi-spectral and thermal images, LiDAR, vision-based navigation systems, etc.) for innovative applications in the geo-hazard domain will be particularly encouraged.
In the following, some open issues that may be considered by the authors:
- Is direct photogrammetry one of the next important improvements (and need) for RPAS?
- will LiDAR sensors play a significant role in the next years on RPAS platforms?
- how could RPAS data and products facilitate immediate decision-making?- what will be role of national regulations in RPAS-based mapping projects?
- Is the current automation in flight execution and captured data processing sufficient for real-time decision making and rescue planning?
- Could on-line repositories and cloud processing be of help in the data collection and processing for decision making and rescue planning?