1. Drone standards seminar RDA sUAS data Interest Group
Hello
I’m Karen Anderson and I am a remote sensing scientist from the University of Exeter.
I use lightweight drones in a wide variety of research projects and I’m very grateful of the opportunity to come and speak to you today. Thank you for inviting me.
Dr Karen Anderson
Environment and Sustainability Institute
University of Exeter

2. DroneLab, University of Exeter
I lead the University of Exeter’s DroneLab. Our primary focus is on developing lightweight aircraft (sub 7kg take off weight) with basic sensors (cameras, thermal imagers and multispectral devices (akin to satellite data but at finer scale)). We innovate at the data processing end – turning photographic data into three dimensional models that we can use to answer a wide variety of environmental questions.

3. Drones: methodological challenges for science
Key challenges in data standards
Calibration of sensors
Quality control of data
Rigour of reporting metadata
Key challenges in operational standards
Demonstrating competence for stakeholder engagement & collaboration
Working safely whilst also having flexibility to push new boundaries

4. Data challenges
If drones are to be effectively assimilated into the Remote Sensing “assemblage”, we need:
Improved reporting of standards for both radiometric measurement and positional detail
Improved evidence of the fine-grained > coarse grained integration of data from drones > satellite products
Better validation of drone products
Improved rigor in review
Is the ‘wild west’ moment over?
Not quite!
More rigorous, less site-specific investigations are needed to demonstrate the role of the drone in supporting up-scaling studies

5. E.g. Drylands biomass estimates
Rigorous science requires high quality ground control at the same scale as the centimetric data from the drone.

6. E.g. ESA Sarong project
Aim: to consolidate and advance the current state of ocean glitter research.
If angles between the sun’s rays, a sensor and differing wave planes are known, the location and extent of ocean glitter can be used to find the roughness of the surface.
We are undertaking research to find ways of improving the positional information on the drone in a marine environment (i.e. no GCPs)
= key to testing the complex algorithms required for glitter data analysis, product validation and upscaling.

7. Operational challenges
Currently, drone operations are subject to rapid regulatory ‘twitch’
E.g. Spain: only government ‘suppliers’ can fly drones for any purpose, restricting scientific exploration and inhibiting innovation
This applies both legally at national and international level; locally, with stakeholder ‘fear’, and institutionally within universities
How should researchers navigate this process?
How to reassure collaborators?
How to ensure that ‘science drone operations’ are seen differently to other types?

8. Sharing information and making procedures ‘open source’
The procedure in the UK for obtaining a licence for ‘aerial work’ are onerous. We published our operations manual as a guide for others to follow.
Manuscript published in International Journal of Remote Sensing

9. Thank you! Karen.Anderson@exeter.ac.uk
Anderson, K. and Gaston, K.J., Lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles will revolutionize spatial ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 11(3), pp
Cunliffe, A.M., Anderson, K., DeBell, L. and Duffy, J.P., A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)-approved operations manual for safe deployment of lightweight drones in research. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 38(8-10), pp
Cunliffe, A.M., Brazier, R.E. and Anderson, K., Ultra-fine grain landscape-scale quantification of dryland vegetation structure with drone-acquired structure-from-motion photogrammetry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 183, pp
DeBell, L., Anderson, K., Brazier, R.E., King, N. and Jones, L., Water resource management at catchment scales using lightweight UAVs: current capabilities and future perspectives. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 4(1), pp.7-30.
Puttock, A.K., Cunliffe, A.M., Anderson, K. and Brazier, R.E., Aerial photography collected with a multirotor drone reveals impact of Eurasian beaver reintroduction on ecosystem structure. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 3(3), pp