Drone based radar technologies for wide rural areas resources exploration: potentialities and challenges

Rural areas, i.e. areas with a low population density and a small number of anthropogenic environments, represent a significant resource in the pursuit of a green and sustainable development of the European Community [1]. This development involves not only the ecological and balanced use of agriculture and forestry resources, but also policies devoted to environmental protection and monitoring. In this context, drone-based technologies offer valuable opportunities because they facilitate the effective and non-invasive surveillance and monitoring of wide and inaccessible places. These technologies, indeed, allow surface and subsurface explorations, while concomitantly reducing the financial and logistical demands associated with investigation missions.

The present contribution is focused on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology and the potential of UAV-GPR technological solutions in subsurface prospecting [2]. The discussion encompasses the collection and processing of data, emphasising the efficacy and sustainability of the technology. The contribution will address the development of guidelines for the design of the flight grid and the formulation of an effective imaging strategy that can account for deviations in motion relative to the nominal trajectory.

[1] Bizottság, E. (2024). The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward. Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brüsszel, The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward, Report from the Commission [Letöltve: 2024.06. 20.].

[2] Noviello, C., Gennarelli, G., Esposito, G., Ludeno, G., Fasano, G., Capozzoli, L., Soldovieri, F., & Catapano, I. (2022). An Overview on Down-Looking UAV-Based GPR Systems. Remote Sensing, 14(14), 3245. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143245

Acknowledgements: The communication has been funded by EU - Next Generation EU Mission 4 “Education and Research” - Component 2: “From research to business” - Investment 3.1: “Fund for the realisation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures” - Project IR0000032 – ITINERIS - Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System - CUP B53C22002150006.

The authors acknowledge the Research Infrastructures participating in the ITINERIS project with their Italian nodes: ACTRIS, ANAEE, ATLaS, CeTRA, DANUBIUS, DISSCO, e-LTER, ECORD, EMPHASIS, EMSO, EUFAR ,Euro-Argo, EuroFleets, Geoscience, IBISBA, ICOS, JERICO, LIFEWATCH, LNS, N/R Laura Bassi, SIOS, SMINO.