Exploring Drone Applications
I'm convinced that one of the largest changes to how we collect geologic field data in the coming years will be the increased use of UAVs or drones. Because of that I've devoted a lot of my personal time to exploring ways that these data can be collected with these new tools. In February of 2018 received my FAA part 107 commercial UAV license, which allows me to fly drones for commercial purposes. Since then I have flown several data collection missions on my own for education purposes and to gain insight and experience with various forms of software and types of data that can be created via drone collection.
I collected this video of the Old 77 Vesper landslide in Clatsop County, Oregon using an automated drone flight. Jewell, Oregon, September 2018.
Drones themselves collect either video or photographs, but these images and video can then be transformed into different forms of data that are useful to geologists. This includes the creation of georeferenced orthomosaic images, three-dimensional point cloud and mesh topographic models, and site specific DEMs. For example, I've worked on using overlapping images, compiled using open-source software, to create three-dimensional models using photogrammetry. The software that creates these utilizes slight differences between features within images (caused my the angle of view) to determine the relative distance between them and can thus extrapolate their three-dimensional relationship. It's similar to the way that our brains can determine 3D space using overlapping images from our two eyes.
Here's video I collected of the Willamette River near the I5 crossing. The video is in 4k, so be sure to view it in HD to get the best resolution. Wilsonville, Oregon, September 2018.
Drone collected images can also be stitched into georeferenced orthophoto imagery. The georeferencing can be based on either GPS data embedded in the photograph EXIF data by the drone, or by using ground control point targets which are manually geolocated using high accuracy GPS equipment. Additionally, drone flights can be programed prior to data collection, allowing autonomous flights. The result is that image collection is identical for each repeat flight and this can therefore provide a means for geologists to monitor changes at a specific site by flying the same mission over repeat intervals.
The above map shows a preview of the georectified orthoimage I created for the Old 77 Vesper Landslide in Clatsop County, Oregon. To view the completed, full resolution orthoimages for both the Vesper slide and Summer Creek at Summerlake Park in Tigard, Oregon, click the links below to download the corresponding KMZ file. KMZ files should be opened in Google Earth.
It has been fascinating and exciting exploring the different possibilities that these new tools provide for data collection I am certain that in the future no geologist will go into the field without a drone as part of their tool kit or in their backpack.