Chapter 3
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for
Environmental Monitoring, Ecological
Conservation, and Disaster Management
Raj Madhavan, Tatiana Silva, Flavia Farina, Rodrigo Wiebbelling,
Leonardo Renner and Edson Prestes
3.1 Introduction
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Drones have received unprecedented attention
in the last few years. From Amazon’s ambitious plan of its fleet of prime air package
deliveries right to our doorsteps to United States Air Force Reapers firing hellfire
missiles at targets in Afghanistan and Iraq to paparazzi’s chasing celebrities to get
that prized picture of a Hollywood star’s baby, they have conjured up images only
limited by our vivid imaginations. Whatever mode of control they are flown under
(they can be either autonomous or remotely piloted by ground operators), for a
destructive or a constructive mission, UAVs evoke connotations in the minds of the
public that borders on the absurd to highly valid concerns. Based on a recent study,
it is expected that the market value will be a whopping USD 89 billion within the
T. Silva · F. Farina · R. Wiebbelling · L. Renner
Basin Modeling Laboratory, Institute of Geosciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul,
Porto Alegre, Brazil
e-mail: tatianasilva@ufrgs.br
F. Farina
e-mail: flavia.farina@ufrgs.br
R. Wiebbelling
e-mail: rfwiebbelling@gmail.com
L. Renner
e-mail: cardoso.renner@ufrgs.br
R. Madhavan (B)
Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technologies, Clarksburg, USA
e-mail: rajmadhavan.t4h@gmail.com
E. Prestes
Phi Robotics, Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre,
Brazil
e-mail: prestes@inf.ufrgs.br
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_3
31
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for
Environmental Monitoring, Ecological
Conservation, and Disaster Management
Raj Madhavan, Tatiana Silva, Flavia Farina, Rodrigo Wiebbelling,
Leonardo Renner and Edson Prestes
3.1 Introduction
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Drones have received unprecedented attention
in the last few years. From Amazon’s ambitious plan of its fleet of prime air package
deliveries right to our doorsteps to United States Air Force Reapers firing hellfire
missiles at targets in Afghanistan and Iraq to paparazzi’s chasing celebrities to get
that prized picture of a Hollywood star’s baby, they have conjured up images only
limited by our vivid imaginations. Whatever mode of control they are flown under
(they can be either autonomous or remotely piloted by ground operators), for a
destructive or a constructive mission, UAVs evoke connotations in the minds of the
public that borders on the absurd to highly valid concerns. Based on a recent study,
it is expected that the market value will be a whopping USD 89 billion within the
T. Silva · F. Farina · R. Wiebbelling · L. Renner
Basin Modeling Laboratory, Institute of Geosciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul,
Porto Alegre, Brazil
e-mail: tatianasilva@ufrgs.br
F. Farina
e-mail: flavia.farina@ufrgs.br
R. Wiebbelling
e-mail: rfwiebbelling@gmail.com
L. Renner
e-mail: cardoso.renner@ufrgs.br
R. Madhavan (B)
Humanitarian Robotics and Automation Technologies, Clarksburg, USA
e-mail: rajmadhavan.t4h@gmail.com
E. Prestes
Phi Robotics, Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre,
Brazil
e-mail: prestes@inf.ufrgs.br
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_3
31