Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geosciences

A special issue of Drones (ISSN 2504-446X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 4174

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Piazza San Giovanni in Monte 2, I-40124 Bologna, Italy
Interests: surveying; mapping; geomatic, digital terrain analysis; geosciences, laser scanning; remote sensing; sensors; geographic information system; environmental monitoring; drones, precision agriculture; statistical analysis; GNSS system; geomatics for cultural heritage

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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: change analysis; multi temporal; hyperspectral; UAV; SAR; InSAR; landslides; virtual outcrops; soil moisture; 3D
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Co-Guest Editor
DIEF, Department of Engineering ‘Enzo Ferrari’, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10, 41125 Modena, Italy
Interests: surveying; monitoring; 3D mapping; 3D modeling; laser scanning; GNSS systems; photogrammetry; sensors; geographic information system; drones; geomatics for geosciences; geomatics for cultural heritage

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the use of remotely piloted vehicles has grown exponentially. The possibility of being able to lift increasingly high-performance sensors and acquire data from high positions previously reachable only by means of human-controlled vehicles, or even never reached due to their hazardous location, has made it possible to increase acquisition productivity and significantly reduce operating costs, as well as opening the door to a plethora of new applications. The appearance on the market of multiple sensors that today can be installed on drones means that the acquisition of proximity data has a role of fundamental importance with regard to Geosciences, that is to say all those arguments relating to disciplines such as Geomorphology, Geomechanics, Geotechnics, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Pedology, in the context of the study and monitoring of mountain slopes, of soil, of environment, natural hazard and everything that may affect these aspect.

At the same time, techniques of data acquisition and of their processing with the aim of obtaining analyzable products are increasingly being refined and standardized. This Special Issue is proposed for all disciplines concerning Geosciences with the aim of contributing to increasing the level of knowledge with arguments of high scientific and technical content in the context of use of remotely piloted vehicles and of data acquired with specific sensors for:

  • Use of specific types of drones with particular performance for data acquisition;
  • Use and performance of specific sensors transportable by drones;
  • Integration between multiple sensors installed on board the drones;
  • Acquisition of proximity data from specific sensors, for all the disciplines concerning Geosciences;
  • Data processing methods acquired by sensors installed on drones;
  • Data analysis;
  • Multitemporal monitoring and control through the acquisition and use of proximity data.

Dr. Marco Dubbini
Dr. Francesco Zucca
Dr. Cristina Castagnetti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Drones is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Drones
  • Sensors
  • Remote sensing
  • Photogrammetry
  • Geophysics
  • Geomorphology
  • Geomechanics
  • Geotechnics
  • Geochemistry
  • Pedology
  • Terrain analysis
  • Processing data
  • Analysis data
  • Monitoring
  • Environmental geoscience

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 4274 KiB  
Article
Development of a Simplified Radiometric Calibration Framework for Water-Based and Rapid Deployment Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations
by Christopher M. Zarzar, Padmanava Dash, Jamie L. Dyer, Robert Moorhead and Lee Hathcock
Drones 2020, 4(2), 17; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/drones4020017 - 02 May 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3799
Abstract
The current study sets out to develop an empirical line method (ELM) radiometric calibration framework for the reduction of atmospheric contributions in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery and for the production of scaled remote sensing reflectance imagery. Using a MicaSense RedEdge camera flown [...] Read more.
The current study sets out to develop an empirical line method (ELM) radiometric calibration framework for the reduction of atmospheric contributions in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery and for the production of scaled remote sensing reflectance imagery. Using a MicaSense RedEdge camera flown on a custom-built octocopter, the research reported herein finds that atmospheric contributions have an important impact on UAS imagery. Data collected over the Lower Pearl River Estuary in Mississippi during five week-long missions covering a wide range of environmental conditions were used to develop and test an ELM radiometric calibration framework designed for the reduction of atmospheric contributions from UAS imagery in studies with limited site accessibility or data acquisition time constraints. The ELM radiometric calibration framework was developed specifically for water-based operations and the efficacy of using generalized study area calibration equations averaged across variable illumination and atmospheric conditions was assessed. The framework was effective in reducing atmospheric and other external contributions in UAS imagery. Unique to the proposed radiometric calibration framework is the radiance-to-reflectance conversion conducted externally from the calibration equations which allows for the normalization of illumination independent from the time of UAS image acquisition and from the time of calibration equation development. While image-by-image calibrations are still preferred for high accuracy applications, this paper provides an ELM radiometric calibration framework that can be used as a time-effective calibration technique to reduce errors in UAS imagery in situations with limited site accessibility or data acquisition constraints. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geosciences)
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