scholarly journals Assessment of known impacts of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on marine mammals: data gaps and recommendations for researchers in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney E. Smith ◽  
Seth T. Sykora-Bodie ◽  
Brian Bloodworth ◽  
Shalynn M. Pack ◽  
Trevor R. Spradlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Research Paradigms ◽  
Current State ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Data Gaps ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Aerial Systems

The development of advanced technologies to enhance conservation science often outpaces the abilities of wildlife managers to assess and ensure such new tools are safely used in proximity to wild animals. Recently, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become more accessible to civilian operators and are quickly being integrated into existing research paradigms to replace manned aircraft. Several federal statutes require scientists to obtain research permits to closely approach protected species of wildlife, such as marine mammals, but the lack of available information on the effects of UAS operations on these species has made it difficult to evaluate and mitigate potential impacts. Here, we present a synthesis of the current state of scientific understanding of the impacts of UAS usage near marine mammals. We also identify key data gaps that are currently limiting the ability of marine resource managers to develop appropriate guidelines, policies, or regulations for safe and responsible operation of UAS near marine mammals. We recommend researchers prioritize collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on marine mammal responses to UAS when using the devices to better inform the scientific community, regulators, and hobbyists about potential effects and assist with the development of appropriate mitigation measures.

scholarly journals Observations of the atmosphere and surface state over Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica, using unmanned aerial systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Cassano ◽  
Mark W. Seefeldt ◽  
Scott Palo ◽  
Shelley L. Knuth ◽  
Alice C. Bradley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ross Sea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Terra Nova Bay ◽  
Atmospheric State ◽  
Terra Nova ◽  
Aerial Systems

Abstract. In September 2012 five Aerosonde unmanned aircraft were used to make measurements of the atmospheric state over the Terra Nova Bay polynya, Antarctica, to explore the details of air–sea ice–ocean coupling. A total of 14 flights were completed in September 2012. Ten of the flight missions consisted of two unmanned aerial systems (UAS) sampling the atmosphere over Terra Nova Bay on 5 different days, with one UAS focusing on the downwind evolution of the air mass and a second UAS flying transects roughly perpendicular to the low-level winds. The data from these coordinated UAS flights provide a comprehensive three-dimensional data set of the atmospheric state (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind) and surface skin temperature over Terra Nova Bay. The remaining UAS flights during the September 2012 field campaign included two local flights near McMurdo Station for flight testing, a single UAS flight to Terra Nova Bay, and a single UAS flight over the Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea polynya. A data set containing the atmospheric and surface data as well as operational aircraft data have been submitted to the United States Antarctic Program Data Coordination Center (USAP-DCC, http://www.usap-data.org/) for free access (http://gcmd.nasa.gov/getdif.htm?NSF-ANT10-43657, doi:10.15784/600125).

Unmanned aerial system applications in construction: a systematic review

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Zhou ◽  
Masoud Gheisari
Keyword(s):  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Building Maintenance ◽  
Current State ◽  
Aerial Systems ◽  
Rotary Wing ◽  
Uas Applications

PurposeOver the past decade, researchers have used unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in construction industry for various applications from site inspection to safety monitoring or building maintenance. This paper aims to assort academic studies on construction UAS applications, summarize logics behind using UAS in each application and extend understanding of current state of UAS research in the construction setting.Design/methodology/approachThis research follows a systematic literature assessment methodology to summarize the results of 54 research papers over the past ten years and outlines the research trends for applying UASs in construction.FindingsUASs are used in building inspection, damage assessment, site surveying, safety inspection, progress monitoring, building maintenance and other construction applications. Cost saving, time efficiency and improved accessibility are the primary reasons for choosing UAS in construction applications. Rotary-wing UASs are the most common types of UASs being used in construction. Cameras, LiDAR and Kinect are the most common onboard sensors integrated in construction UAS applications. The control styles used are manual, semi-autonomous and autonomous.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to classification of UAS applications in construction research and identification of UAS hardware and sensor types as well as their flying control systems in construction literature.

scholarly journals Options for use of unmanned aerial systems in fire and rescue services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matúš Poljak ◽  
◽  
Branislav Kandera
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Rescue Services ◽  
Current State ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Problematic Situations ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Aerial Systems

This paper deals with the issue of the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles in fire and rescue services in several common problematic situations in which these rescue units operate. In the introductory chapter, the work defines factual terms and definitions related to the categorization of unmanned aerial vehicles in connection with the active legislation of the Slovak Republic and chronologically describes their historical development. Subsequently, it analyzes the current state of the issue in the Slovak Republic, and then compares it with the state of use of unmanned aerial vehicles in rescue services of the same purpose abroad. The main task of this work is to design and evaluate a possible solution to this issue. Other goals of this work include the creation of a theoretical base, which can be used for the practical application of the proposed solutions for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of fire and rescue services.

scholarly journals Measuring Building Height Using Point Cloud Data Derived from Unmanned Aerial System Imagery in an Undergraduate Geospatial Science Course

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
David Kulhavy ◽  
I-Kuai Hung ◽  
Daniel R. Unger ◽  
Reid Viegut ◽  
Yanli Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Senior Project ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Hands On Learning ◽  
Science Curricula ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
Aerial Systems

The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also known as drones is increasing in geospatial science curricula within the United States. Within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) at Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas, seniors in the geospatial science program complete capstone projects to evaluate current geospatial technology to investigate complex ecological, social and environmental issues. Under the umbrella of a student initiated and designed senior project, students designed a study to estimate height of buildings with UAS data incorporating UAS data, LP360 and ArcScene programs, and Pictometry web-based interface. Results from a statistical analysis of the data confirm that geospatial science height estimation techniques can provide accurate estimates of height remotely. The independence of the students completing the project with UAS data for LP360 and ArcScene estimations, and utilizing Pictometry as an on-onscreen measuring tool, point to the need to integrate remote sensing, statistical analysis and synthesis of data into undergraduate geospatial science curricula. This reinforces the hands-on learning approach within ATCOFA and provides guidance to integrate the use of UAS in natural resource education.

Marine mammal sightings by analysts of digital imagery versus aerial surveyors: a preliminary comparison

2013 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 25-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Koski ◽  
Tannis A. Thomas ◽  
Dale W. Funk ◽  
A. Michael Macrander
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Detection Rates ◽  
Detailed Review ◽  
Full Resolution ◽  
Single Lens ◽  
Slide Show ◽  
Aerial Systems

Sightings of marine mammals made by protected species observers (PSOs) on manned aircraft were compared to sightings obtained from later review of high-definition (HD) video and digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera imagery covering the same swaths and collected concurrent with the PSO observations. If the data were comparable, future similar surveys could be conducted with unmanned aerial systems or manned aircraft without PSOs. Two reviews were conducted on the DSLR images: one used image enhancement and scanned the images at full resolution of the cameras (detailed review) and the other flashed images at one ninth resolution on monitors for three to four seconds using a slide show format to simulate the view a PSO would have out an airplane window. Image reviewers saw fewer animals in HD video than did PSOs but sample sizes were small. During detailed review of DSLR imagery, reviewers saw similar numbers of cetaceans and polar bears and slightly more pinnipeds as compared to PSOs. PSOs saw more animals than the quick review found, but changes to the quick review process are suggested that will increase detection rates. Additional data are required to confirm the results presented here and to determine whether photographic versus PSO detections are similar across varying survey conditions.

scholarly journals Quantifying Marine Macro Litter Abundance on a Sandy Beach Using Unmanned Aerial Systems and Object-Oriented Machine Learning Methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2599
Author(s):  
Gil Gonçalves ◽  
Umberto Andriolo ◽  
Luísa Gonçalves ◽  
Paula Sobral ◽  
Filipa Bessa
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Sandy Beach ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have recently been proven to be valuable remote sensing tools for detecting marine macro litter (MML), with the potential of supporting pollution monitoring programs on coasts. Very low altitude images, acquired with a low-cost RGB camera onboard a UAS on a sandy beach, were used to characterize the abundance of stranded macro litter. We developed an object-oriented classification strategy for automatically identifying the marine macro litter items on a UAS-based orthomosaic. A comparison is presented among three automated object-oriented machine learning (OOML) techniques, namely random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN). Overall, the detection was satisfactory for the three techniques, with mean F-scores of 65% for KNN, 68% for SVM, and 72% for RF. A comparison with manual detection showed that the RF technique was the most accurate OOML macro litter detector, as it returned the best overall detection quality (F-score) with the lowest number of false positives. Because the number of tuning parameters varied among the three automated machine learning techniques and considering that the three generated abundance maps correlated similarly with the abundance map produced manually, the simplest KNN classifier was preferred to the more complex RF. This work contributes to advances in remote sensing marine litter surveys on coasts, optimizing the automated detection on UAS-derived orthomosaics. MML abundance maps, produced by UAS surveys, assist coastal managers and authorities through environmental pollution monitoring programs. In addition, they contribute to search and evaluation of the mitigation measures and improve clean-up operations on coastal environments.

scholarly journals The effect of political affiliation on support for police drone monitoring in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Mattie N. Milner ◽  
Stephen Rice ◽  
Scott R. Winter ◽  
Emily C. Anania
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Political Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Political Protests ◽  
The Us ◽  
Aerial Systems

As unmanned aerial systems grow in popularity, police agencies are using this technology to provide aerial support for officers; however, public opinion could affect the success of this technological collaboration. Using social identity theory, researchers may be able to predict people’s support for various government projects. In a series of studies, participants were presented with a brief description of a proposal for using police drones to monitor political protests. Additional information was provided about the type of protest and type of person attending the protest. In general, conservatives were more supportive of police drones monitoring protests compared to liberals. However, this support was moderated by the type of participant and the type of protest; that is, support dropped when a participant believed that the protest supported their own political party beliefs. The current study provides a foundation for understanding what factors affect the public’s support of police incorporating drones into their daily workforce in the US.

scholarly journals Trends, benefits, and barriers of unmanned aerial systems in the construction industry: a survey study in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 84-111
Author(s):  
Gilles Albeaino ◽  
Masoud Gheisari
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Aerial Systems

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) have rapidly been integrated into the construction industry over the past few years, and their application is continually growing in this domain. The recent development in UAS regulations and technical capabilities have played a significant role in their popularity and wide deployment in various stages of the construction lifecycle. UASs could be used as a platform to enhance the construction practices in general; however, little is known about how construction professionals are adopting this technology in specific construction practices and the barriers they are facing for their successful implementation. The purpose of this study is to explore the current state-of-practice of UAS integration in construction from the industry professionals’ viewpoint. A comprehensive survey study was conducted in the United States to identify the practical construction UAS application areas, their adopted technologies, as well as the benefits and barriers encountered during their implementation. Responses (n=56) showed that most common UAS applications include progress monitoring, site planning, and site surveying/mapping. Rotary-wing vehicles and visual and thermal cameras were the most used platforms and onboard sensors, respectively. Saving time, improving accessibility to compromised spaces, and reducing cost while accomplishing construction tasks were highly regarded as UAS implementation benefits in construction. Participants also considered flying in various weather conditions, within confined or congested areas, as well as the advanced technical know-how requirements, and the increased liability and legal challenges as barriers to using UASs in construction-related tasks. By understanding UAS adoption in construction, this study provides a roadmap to better identify the industry needs and guide researchers and professionals in investigating application areas and barriers that might have maximum benefits for the construction industry in the United States.

scholarly journals Ensuring the Safety Sustainability of Large UAS: Learning from the Maintenance Risk Dynamics of USAF MQ-1 Predator Fleet in Last Two Decades

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Lu ◽  
Ying Qian ◽  
Huayan Huangfu ◽  
Shuguang Zhang ◽  
Shan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
United States Air Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Human Errors ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Risk Dynamics ◽  
Aerial Systems

The mishap statistics of large military unmanned aerial systems (UAS) reveal that human errors and organizational flaws pose great threats to their operation safety, especially considering the future application of derived civilian types. Moreover, maintenance accidents due to human factors have reached a significant level, but have received little attention in the existing research. To ensure the safety and sustainability of large UAS, we propose a system dynamics approach to model the maintenance risk mechanisms involving organizational, human, and technical factors, which made a breakthrough in the traditional event-chain static analysis method. Using the United States Air Force (USAF) MQ-1 Predator fleet case, the derived time-domain simulation represented the risk evolution process of the past two decades and verified the rationality of the proposed model. It was identified that the effects of maintainer human factors on the accident rate exceeded those of the technical systems in a long-term view, even though the technical reliability improvements had obvious initial effects on risk reduction. The characteristics of maintainer errors should be considered in system and maintenance procedure design to prevent them in a proactive way. It is also shown that the approach-derived SD model can be developed into a semi-quantitative decision-making support tool for improving the safety of large UAS in a risk-based view of airworthiness.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document