Global UAV-based solutions for the industry and agriculture. Remote sensing of vegetation from drones (UAS). The example of the Trimble Unmanned Aerial Solution Emmanuel de Maistre, co-founder & CEO demaistre@redbird.fr World Geospatial Forum Geneva May 2014
A link between manufacturers and clients Manufacturers Customers Technology integrator (in accordance with clients needs): hardware, software, logistics. Cartography Topography Visual inspections «Product s» strategy, aeronautical engineering and technical development of UAS systems. Field teams (pilots, UAVs) Development and deployment of comprehensive service packages. Industrial measurements Industrial monitoring and predictive maintenance Maintenance, technological renewal, compliance with regulations. Precision agriculture 2
Providing service trough technology integration Vectors (fixed and rotary-wings) Data Acquisition (UAS & pilots) that can carry sensors (payloads) ability to analyze the acquired data (software) Data Treatment (photogrammetry, GIS, remote sensing) (engineers) Data integration into clients IS Redbird is a new kind of data provider : business-oriented advices through UAV-acquired data 3
Redbird fleet : fixed- and rotary-wings (2 nd UAS acquired) 4
Redbird sensors Photo / video RGB - visible DT18 3 bands 5-9 Mpx Ricoh 10-16 Mpx NEX7 24 Mpx Infrared - NIR Multispectral DT18 4 bands 5 MPx Tetracam Mini-MCA 6 Panoptes FLIR TAU2 640 LIDAR (laser) LIDAR Sick LD-MRS-400001 (under evaluation) 5
Redbird s targeted markets TRANSPORT NETWORKS ELECTRICITY OIL & GAS! Long distance corridor mapping! Predictive maintenance! Security CONSTRUCTION! Inspection of works! Infrastructure standards! Project planning MINES & QUARRIES! Topography site s monitoring! 3D Modelling! Inspection of works! Cartography and topography! Volume calculation! Stock monitoring AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT! Cartography and remote sensing (precision agriculture). Crop dusting. 6
Remote sensing of vegetation? TRANSPORT NETWORKS ELECTRICITY OIL & GAS AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT 7
The X-100, a suitable tool for agriculture The Gatewing X-100 Launcher Operator Weight Dimensions Autopilot Autonomy Precision Speed Sensor Coverage Operations 2,2 kg 100 cm x 60 cm Automatic take-off and landing. GPS navigation via waypoints. 45 min up to 3.5 cm per px (x,y) 80 km/h Ricoh calibrated 10MPix Ricoh camera and NIR filter 150m altitude : 150 ha in average Excellent resistance to harsh weather conditions (winds) 8
Background: vegetation reflectance & NDVI Plants use (absorb) red and blue wavelengths for photosynthesis -> from visible wavelengths, only green is reflected (= we see plants green) From the entire spectrum, near-infrared (NIR; 750-2000 nm) is reflected even more than green, but not visible to naked eye. More specifically: the difference between reflectance in NIR and red gives a good indication of plant stress, health status, growth. Most widely used index: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) 9
Business case : precision analysis of sunflowers field Mission objective: production of NDVI mapping of a 19 hectares sunflowers field into 5.000 micro-plots for statistical analysis and research purposes (breeding & seed selection). Each plot : 25 m 2 Technology used : TRIMBLE Gatewing X-100 Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Software used 10
Capturing NIR and calculating the NDVI Very high resolution geo-referenced and accurate orthophoto (4 Go) 3,5 cm per px (x,y) 1 2 NIR only 3 RGB (visible) 4 Red only (visible) NDVI 11
NDVI calculation for every 25 m2 microplot Color channels have been separated in GIS (or remote sensing software) to calculate vegetation index for every plot. We used ArcGis. Mean NDVI per microplot (0.3 0.5) 12
Precision and accuracy : every flower is visible 13
Calculating plant height (i) DSM : Digital surface model (ii) DTM : Digital terrain model (naked soil between the plots) (iii) Measurement of plant s height A good correlation between the UAV-based measures and the measures on the ground (r 2 = 0,79) CCL : the X-100 a relevant tool for the remote sensing of vegetation for agricultural & research purposes 14
A wide range of agri/viti applications UAS are an appropriate solution to analyze the cultures at the intra-plot level (cm resolution) To provide agronomic advice :! Maximize the production! Minimize the amount of phytosanitary products used as well as water input! Detect and characterize diseases (including grapewine flavescence dorée)! Organise the harvesting period! Detect weeds 15
Remote sensing of vegetation on long distances To detect vegetation around large infrastructure network (railways, power lines, gas pipelines or even invading algae in rivers. Objective : to save costs by detecting automatically and precisely every single area that need to be treated. The UAV-acquired and analyzed data can be easily managed as a new layer in the clients GIS. 16
Benefits of UAS vs. traditional operations The benefits of the Trimble UAS platforms as compared to other airborne / satellite acquisition are : 1. The high spatial resolution (cm) and accuracy 2. Quick turnaround times (up to 5-8 flights per day) 3. Lower operation costs (electrical powered UAS) 4. Operation in all weather conditions (max. wind 65 km/h) These features are of special interest in precision farming or irrigation scheduling where time-critical management : short revisit time is required high spatial resolution is mandatory Agriculture is to become one of the largest markets for UAS on the medium term A new tool to acquire big data, a new field of innovations for dedicated sensors (other indexes that NDVI) and data analysis. 17
The UAV market : happening now? 700 (France) +110% over 6 months 600 500 Companies UAVs +350% over a year 400 300 200 100 0 nov.-12 déc.-12 2012 janv.-13 févr.-13 mars-13 avr.-13 mai-13 juin-13 juil.-13 août-13 sept.-13 oct.-13 nov.-13 déc.-13 janv.-14 févr.-14 mars-14 avr.-14 2014 mai-14 600 registered companies are operating UAVs 1.500 to 2.000 UAVs operated in France 18
Thank you Feel free to contact us : Emmanuel de Maistre - demaistre@redbird.fr - +33 663 293 24 19
We can fly in *every* scenarios (VLOS, BLOS) S1 S3 max. 25 kg max. 4 kg S2 S4 max. 2 kg max. 2 kg Non-populated & populated areas Non-populated areas only VLOS operations (100 m.) E-VLOS (<1 km) and B-VLOS (> 1km) Applications : Industrial inspections & medias Applications : large areas (topography), long distances (corridor mapping), agriculture - - 20
Business case 2: industrial monitoring Mission objective: detection of unregistered sites in the vicinity of the network, identification of signal beacons and zones at risk. Data acquisition: two days of data acquisition over 30 km of gas pipeline. Data processing: production of orthophotos and remote sensing of objects. Hardware used DT-18 Software used 21
Four requirements to operate RPAS in France! MAP : «Manuel d activités particulières». A document that describes the company RPAS and operating procedures (safety, etc.). 3-4 weeks for approval.! Pilot training / DNC : «Déclaration de niveau de compétence». A document that certifies the training of the pilots themselves. 1-2 weeks of training! Insurance for civil responsibility. Est. 500 euros / year.! Approved RPAS (industrial or DIY)! Specific approval in some cases (city and/or landowner approval) 22