Drone pilot training

Drones (or UAV as they are also called) are an operation part of the spectral data collection programme of SITES spectral. The drones are equipped with cameras that capture images of the ecosystems in different wavelength bands (green, red, red-edge, and near infrared).
 

The images are then used to study the status of the vegetation during different parts of the growing season. The drones are programmed to automatically follow a route and photograph the land surface from 60-80 m height. In order for everything to work smoothly it is necessary for the pilots to be well prepared and trained, and that thorough planning has been carried out. For this reason, we organized a workshop during the beginning of May where Virginia Garcia and Lars Eklundh of SITES Spectral together with participants from Röbäcksdalen, Skogaryd, Svartberget and Tarfala worked through all the routines connected to the flying. We discussed a number of factors that affect the data quality, like placement of ground control points, weather conditions, time-of-day, metadata collection, etc. Problems with the drones occur now and again, and we collected important experiences and technical solutions.