Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Hydrological Monitoring

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are offering an extraordinary opportunity to improve our ability to monitor river basins. The wide use of UAS leaded to a significant grow of the number of applications and methodologies developed for specific scopes of environmental monitoring. For this reason, there is a serious challenge to harmonise and provide standardised guidance applicable across a broad range of environments and conditions. In this context, a network of scientists is cooperating within the framework of a COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action named “Harmonious - Given the wide use of UAS within environmental studies”. The intention of “Harmonious” is to promote monitoring strategies, establish harmonised monitoring practices, and transfer most recent advances on UAS methodologies to others within a global network. The working groups of Harmonious are currently working on the definition of practical guidance for environmental studies identifying critical processes and the interconnection of each step for a successful workflow. Given the number of environmental constraints and variables, it is impractical to provide a protocol that can be applied universally under all possible conditions, but it is possible to systematise the fragmented knowledge on this topic identifying the best-practices to improve the overall quality of the final products. Preliminary results of the HARMONIOUS COST Action will be given.