Posters

Drones (also Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Systems (UAV/UAS), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) have revolutionised the ability to collect ultra-high spatial resolution spatial data at the scale of millimetres to centimetres. This has allowed a new scale of mapping and process research in the geosciences. Drones and associated sensors can be cost-effective compared with high spatial resolution airborne and satellite data, providing flexibility in deployment. The development curve of miniaturized drone sensors and data processing software / hardware solution has been transformative, but has not perhaps satisfied scientists’ expectations. Many geoscientists are grappling with quality, stability and reliability in the collection and calibration of data from sensors that have over-promised but under-delivered in practice, or are simply not suited to particular applications. Drone hardware and software has provided tools to process the data, but many tools are black-box, and the resulting observations have quality issues that can impact the questions that are being answered by geoscientists in mapping and process studies. This PICO session will share peoples’ knowledge of the issues and limits of sensors and processing workflows, focusing on communicating and sharing solutions for addressing and advancing our understanding of how ultra-high spatial resolution drone data can (and cannot) be collected, calibrated, processed and then used to answer research questions in the geosciences. Specific themes we wish to promote include:
- Work quantifying sensor quality, stability and reliability in the collection of data, with a focus on sharing information around quantifying limits, providing solutions and communicating best (or limits on) use of data,
- Best practice in the calibration of data (particularly spectral and thermal sensors), and relating this to levels of processing/calibration/validation required to answer geoscience questions,
- Collection and processing of LiDAR and photogrammetry Structure from Motion (SfM) data and the use of fine-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) in the geosciences,
- Limitations and opportunities in using drones for mapping studies in the geosciences,
- Limitations and opportunities in using drones for process studies in the geosciences,
- Related work that focuses on solutions to issues experienced in using drone data in the geosciences.
- Examples of applications that are affected or overcome issues related to sensor quality, calibration and data pre-processing (orthomosaicing, radiometric correction, vignette correction, BRDF correction, conversion of digital numbers to at-surface reflectance).


We are pleased to announce a keynote presentation from Dr Patrice Carbonneau (University of Durham).