The NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility UAV Suite

The Field Spectroscopy Facility (Edinburgh, UK) is a Natural Environment Research Council public funded body which maintains and provides cutting edge spectroscopy instrumentation and expertise to UK and international researchers. The facility primarily focuses on the provision of ground based spectroscopic instrumentation, often in support of airborne spectroscopic surveys, but was awarded a UKRI capital fund in 2019 for the development of a UAV spectroscopic sensor suite to fill the spatial resolution gap between airborne and ground measurements.

Developed as the “NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility UAV Suite”, the new instrument pool consists of various UAV platforms and spectroscopic sensors which can be loaned to UK and international researchers. Instruments include multispectral cameras with sensors matched to Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 centre wavelengths; thermal cameras covering the SWIR to MIR region; a custom designed UV-VIS spectrometer for measurements of solar induced fluorescence; and the flagship sensor of the suite, a lightweight hyperspectral imager with LIDAR attachment covering the UV-VIS-SWIR region (350 to 2500 nm range).

In this presentation, we discuss the development of the FSF UAV suite, discussing our “chain” concept of development – calibration of sensors at our optical laboratory; integration of sensors onto UAVs; logistical planning of flights with associated ground-based data acquisition; and the development of custom processing chains of UAV acquired data. We will highlight select campaigns on which the UAV suite has been used, including macro plastic detection as part of ESA HyperDrone, ecological surveying of large peatlands in Northern Scotland, and support for the ESA-FLEX (solar induced fluorescence sensing) mission. We will also discuss the challenges involved in sensor integration, and provide insight into the novel solutions which we have employed during the development of the UAV suite.