Applications and Challenges Related to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environment Monitoring

Jukka Sassi; Vadim Kramar; Matti Mõttus; Olli Ihalainen; Sami Siikanen

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-44607-8_7

Applications and Challenges Related to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environment Monitoring

Jukka Sassi (Corresponding author), Vadim Kramar, Matti Mõttus, Olli Ihalainen, Sami Siikanen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter or book article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the latest research and development activities conducted by VTT regarding environmental monitoring using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and discusses the associated challenges. An AI-based drone swarm technology in a unified framework can provide situational awareness and decision support tools for wildfire monitoring. The monitoring of floating waste from an unmanned aircraft (UA) with optical sensors suggests that multi-imaging with near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral (HS), thermal infrared (TIR), and multicolor (RGB) sensors is a promising method for separating floating plastic waste from organic material. Monitoring of tailing ponds of mines with onboard hyperspectral and multispectral sensors indicated hints of seepage or water in spectral signatures of vegetation and ground along with general structural information, particularly of tailing pond dams. Hyperspectral data acquired by a UAS is well suited for monitoring vegetation’s biochemical composition, moisture content, and biodiversity since it offers unprecedented spatial resolution with pixel sizes comparable to the basic vegetation elements, leaves or flowers. VTT demonstrated the applicability of novel vegetation analysis algorithms based on the theory of spectral invariant theory to such ultra-high-resolution HS imagery for vegetation trait retrieval. The challenges related to the use of UAS are multifaceted. These include connectivity technologies and protocols, the operational limitations of UA, and the application of artificial intelligence (AI), data fusion, and machine learning methods. Also, the legislative demand for autonomous UAS operations, significantly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), requires a range of U-space services.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	New Developments and Environmental Applications of Drones
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of FinDrones 2023
Editors	Tomi Westerlund, Jorge Peña Queralta
Publisher	Springer
Chapter	7
Pages	97-114
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-031-44607-8
ISBN (Print)	978-3-031-44606-1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44607-8_7
Publication status	Published - 18 Jan 2024
MoE publication type	A3 Part of a book or another research book

Funding

The authors would like to thank Jussi Juola (Aalto University) for acquiring and pre-processing the Specim IQ image for the hyperspectral imaging of flora. The study was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant 322256). The drone swarm research is funded by the Academy of Finland (project grant number 348010) and conducted as part of the unmanned aerial systems-based solutions for real-time management of wildfires (FireMan) project. This research was also partly supported by the Academy of Finland project “Finnish UAV Ecosystem” (FUAVE, project grant number 337878). The authors would also like to express their gratitude to Thomasine Kamerling from Huhtamäki Oyj (Finland), who sponsored the floating waste monitoring project. The project was also part of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme, Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN), decision 320168. The authors thank Marko Savolainen (VTT Kuopio), Marko Paavola (VTT Oulu), and “Goldeneye” project consortium members for their valuable support for our publication. The Goldeneye project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 innovation program under grant agreement number, 869398.

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-44607-8_7

FUAVE: Finnish UAV Ecosystem
Karvonen, H. (Manager)
1/07/20 → 31/12/22
Project: Academy of Finland project
Goldeneye: Earth observation and Earth GNSS data acquisition and processing platform for safe, sustainable and cost-efficient mining operations
Paavola, M. (Manager)
1/05/20 → 30/04/23
Project: EU project

Cite this

Sassi, J., Kramar, V., Mõttus, M., Ihalainen, O., & Siikanen, S. (2024). Applications and Challenges Related to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environment Monitoring. In T. Westerlund, & J. Peña Queralta (Eds.), New Developments and Environmental Applications of Drones: Proceedings of FinDrones 2023 (pp. 97-114). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44607-8_7

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Applications and Challenges Related to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environment Monitoring. / Sassi, Jukka (Corresponding author); Kramar, Vadim ; Mõttus, Matti et al.
New Developments and Environmental Applications of Drones: Proceedings of FinDrones 2023. ed. / Tomi Westerlund; Jorge Peña Queralta. Springer, 2024. p. 97-114.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter or book article › Scientific › peer-review

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AU - Siikanen, Sami

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Applications and Challenges Related to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environment Monitoring

Abstract

Funding

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Projects

FUAVE: Finnish UAV Ecosystem

Goldeneye: Earth observation and Earth GNSS data acquisition and processing platform for safe, sustainable and cost-efficient mining operations

Cite this