scholarly journals Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 20140754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Vas ◽  
Amélie Lescroël ◽  
Olivier Duriez ◽  
Guillaume Boguszewski ◽  
David Grémillet
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
Physiological Indicators ◽  
Approach Distance ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Approach Speed ◽  
The Impact

Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, are being increasingly used in ecological research, in particular to approach sensitive wildlife in inaccessible areas. Impact studies leading to recommendations for best practices are urgently needed. We tested the impact of drone colour, speed and flight angle on the behavioural responses of mallards Anas platyrhynchos in a semi-captive situation, and of wild flamingos ( Phoenicopterus roseus ) and common greenshanks ( Tringa nebularia ) in a wetland area. We performed 204 approach flights with a quadricopter drone, and during 80% of those we could approach unaffected birds to within 4 m. Approach speed, drone colour and repeated flights had no measurable impact on bird behaviour, yet they reacted more to drones approaching vertically. We recommend launching drones farther than 100 m from the birds and adjusting approach distance according to species. Our study is a first step towards a sound use of drones for wildlife research. Further studies should assess the impacts of different drones on other taxa, and monitor physiological indicators of stress in animals exposed to drones according to group sizes and reproductive status.

scholarly journals Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization for Path Planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Kai Yit Kok ◽  
Parvathy Rajendran
Keyword(s):  
Particle Swarm Optimization ◽  
Path Planning ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Swarm Optimization ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Trial And Error Method ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization ◽  
Error Method

This paper presents an enhanced particle swarm optimization (PSO) for the path planning of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). An evolutionary algorithm such as PSO is costly because every application requires different parameter settings to maximize the performance of the analyzed parameters. People generally use the trial-and-error method or refer to the recommended setting from general problems. The former is time consuming, while the latter is usually not the optimum setting for various specific applications. Hence, this study focuses on analyzing the impact of input parameters on the PSO performance in UAV path planning using various complex terrain maps with adequate repetitions to solve the tuning issue. Results show that inertial weight parameter is insignificant, and a 1.4 acceleration coefficient is optimum for UAV path planning. In addition, the population size between 40 and 60 seems to be the optimum setting based on the case studies.

scholarly journals The Wane of Command: Evidence on Drone Strikes and Control within Terrorist Organizations

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
ANOUK S. RIGTERINK
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Drone Strikes ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Better Than

This paper investigates how counterterrorism targeting terrorist leaders affects terrorist attacks. This effect is theoretically ambiguous and depends on whether terrorist groups are modeled as unitary actors or not. The paper exploits a natural experiment provided by strikes by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) “hitting” and “missing” terrorist leaders in Pakistan. Results suggest that terrorist groups increase the number of attacks they commit after a drone “hit” on their leader compared with after a “miss.” This increase is statistically significant for 3 out of 6 months after a hit, when it ranges between 47.7% and 70.3%. Additional analysis of heterogenous effects across groups and leaders, and the impact of drone hits on the type of attack, terrorist group infighting, and splintering, suggest that principal-agent problems—(new) terrorist leaders struggling to control and discipline their operatives—account for these results better than alternative theoretical explanations.

scholarly journals Modern means of assessing the impact of emergencies on the environmental condition of the ground layer of atmosphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 280 ◽  
pp. 09017
Author(s):  
Anastasiia Turevych ◽  
Svitlana Madzhd ◽  
Larysa Cherniak ◽  
Anatoliy Pavlyuk ◽  
Vincent Ojeh
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Ecological Monitoring ◽  
Hazardous Substances ◽  
Operational Monitoring ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Functional Scheme ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Impact

The problem of emergencies will not leave humanity as long as it exists, and therefore it is necessary to at least create conditions under which it is possible to reduce the risks of injuries, diseases and deaths of people who are in the emergency zone. This can be achieved by raising awareness of the nature of the emergency, the hazardous substances that are released in connection with it. Theoretical analysis of various remote means of assessing the impact of emergencies of man-made areas on the ecological state of the atmospheric air of the surrounding areas. It has been found that the use of remote sensing equipment greatly simplifies the procedure of operational monitoring of the environment during emergencies, as well as contributes to the health of professionals. A comparison of different remote means of environmental monitoring of air quality was performed: In particular, stationary automatic stations, mobile automatic stations, probes, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were compared. It is proposed to use UAVs as remote means of operational monitoring of air quality. The functional scheme of UAV system implementation for the needs of operative ecological monitoring is offered. The legal features of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as remote means of monitoring air quality during emergencies are analyzed.

scholarly journals NEW MODEL OF A SOLAR WIND AIRPLANE FOR GEOMATIC OPERATIONS

2015 ◽  
Vol XL-1/W4 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
A. Achachi ◽  
D. Benatia
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
System Design ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Flight Crew ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Border Surveillance ◽  
New System

The ability for an aircraft to fly during a much extended period of time has become a key issue and a target of research, both in the domain of civilian aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles. This paper describes a new design and evaluating of solar wind aircraft with the objective to assess the impact of a new system design on overall flight crew performance. The required endurance is in the range of some hours in the case of law enforcement, border surveillance, forest fire fighting or power line inspection. However, other applications at high altitudes, such as geomatic operations for delivering geographic information, weather research and forecast, environmental monitoring, would require remaining airborne during days, weeks or even months. The design of GNSS non precision approach procedure for different airports is based on geomatic data.

scholarly journals Spatial resolution of unmanned aerial vehicles acquired imagery as a result of different processing conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-154
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Kubišta ◽  
Peter Surový
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Light Condition ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Flight Speed ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Flight Height ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Imagery Data

Abstract Increasing availability of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and different software for processing of UAV imagery data brings new possibilities for on-demand monitoring of environment, making it accessible to broader spectra of professionals with variable expertise in image processing and analysis. This brings also new questions related to imagery quality standards. One of important characteristics of imagery is its spatial resolution as it directly impacts the results of object recognition and further imagery processing. This study aims at identifying relationship between spatial resolution of UAV acquired imagery and variables of imagery acquiring conditions, especially UAV flight height, flight speed and lighting conditions. All of these characteristics has been proved as significantly influencing spatial resolution quality and all subsequent data based on this imagery. Higher flight height as well as flight speed brings lower spatial resolution, whereas better lighting conditions lead to better spatial resolution of imagery. In this article we conducted a study testing various heights, flight speeds and light conditions and tested the impact of these parameters on Ground Resolved Distance (GRD). We proved that from among the variables, height is the most significant factor, second position is speed and finally the light condition. All of these factors could be relevant for instance in implementation of UAV in forestry sector, where imagery data must be often collected in diverse terrain conditions and/or complex stand (especially vertical) structure, as well as different weather conditions.

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF HARBORS ON THE COASTLINE CONFIGURATION USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALVARO QUIJANO MANZANILLA ◽  
LUIS ESTEBAN JIMÉNEZ ◽  
ERNESTO MENDOZA PONCE
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The Status of Earth Observation Techniques in Monitoring High Mountain Environments at the Example of Pasterze Glacier, Austria: Data, Methods, Accuracies, Processes, and Scales

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Avian ◽  
Christian Bauer ◽  
Matthias Schlögl ◽  
Barbara Widhalm ◽  
Karl-Heinz Gutjahr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Mountain Environments ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Very High ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

Earth observation offers a variety of techniques for monitoring and characterizing geomorphic processes in high mountain environments. Terrestrial laserscanning and unmanned aerial vehicles provide very high resolution data with high accuracy. Automatic cameras have become a valuable source of information—mostly in a qualitative manner—in recent years. The availability of satellite data with very high revisiting time has gained momentum through the European Space Agency’s Sentinel missions, offering new application potential for Earth observation. This paper reviews the status of recent techniques such as terrestrial laserscanning, remote sensed imagery, and synthetic aperture radar in monitoring high mountain environments with a particular focus on the impact of new platforms such as Sentinel-1 and -2 as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. The study area comprises the high mountain glacial environment at the Pasterze Glacier, Austria. The area is characterized by a highly dynamic geomorphological evolution and by being subject to intensive scientific research as well as long-term monitoring. We primarily evaluate landform classification and process characterization for: (i) the proglacial lake; (ii) icebergs; (iii) the glacier river; (iv) valley-bottom processes; (v) slope processes; and (vi) rock wall processes. We focus on assessing the potential of every single method both in spatial and temporal resolution in characterizing different geomorphic processes. Examples of the individual techniques are evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively in the context of: (i) morphometric analysis; (ii) applicability in high alpine regions; and (iii) comparability of the methods among themselves. The final frame of this article includes considerations on scale dependent process detectability and characterization potentials of these Earth observation methods, along with strengths and limitations in applying these methods in high alpine regions.

scholarly journals Unmanned aerial vehicles reveal the impact of a total solar eclipse on the atmospheric surface layer

2019 ◽  
Vol 475 (2229) ◽  
pp. 20190212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean C. C. Bailey ◽  
Caleb A. Canter ◽  
Michael P. Sama ◽  
Adam L. Houston ◽  
Suzanne Weaver Smith
Keyword(s):  
Surface Layer ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Solar Eclipse ◽  
Atmospheric Surface Layer ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stable Layer ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Impact

We use unmanned aerial vehicles to interrogate the surface layer processes during a solar eclipse and gain a comprehensive look at the changes made to the atmospheric surface layer as a result of the rapid change of insolation. Measurements of the atmospheric surface layer structure made by the unmanned systems are connected to surface measurements to provide a holistic view of the impact of the eclipse on the near-surface behaviour, large-scale turbulent structures and small-scale turbulent dynamics. Different regimes of atmospheric surface layer behaviour were identified, with the most significant impact including the formation of a stable layer just after totality and evidence of Kelvin–Helmholtz waves appearing at the interface between this layer and the residual layer forming above it. The decrease in surface heating caused a commensurate decrease in buoyant turbulent production, which resulted in a rapid decay of the turbulence in the atmospheric surface layer both within the stable layer and in the mixed layer forming above it. Significant changes in the wind direction were imposed by the decrease in insolation, with evidence supporting the formation of a nocturnal jet, as well as backing of the wind vector within the stable layer.

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