3 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Environmental Monitoring …
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located in Southern Brazil, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and
other stakeholders have acted collaboratively to assess geographic information to
help the elaboration of an environmental plan to solve specific community demands
and also to monitor the impact and dynamic aspects of the ecosystem, such as the
occurrence of fire, invasive species, and environmental infractions.
We have developed Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based regional models of environmental risk and how they overlap infrastructure and human settlements
in the Rio Grande do Sul coastal zone (Silva et al. 2011; Silva and Tagliani 2012).
Our current work focuses on enhancing the regional models using precision and
super high-resolution images taken by UAVs especially for those areas already identified as high risk. The greater the precision of these models, the more lives can be
saved because these models can form the basis for public policies in constraining
human settlements on high-risk areas. Moreover, meteorological sensors carried by
UAVs can be employed to collect atmospheric information, providing better precision for the meteorological models at a local level. When these data are integrated
in hydraulic/hydrological models, scene-generation becomes possible, thus allowing
us to predict which regions are vulnerable to floods or landslides depending on different levels of rainfall. This information can then aid rescue teams when a certain
level of rainfall is expected once it is incorporated in collaborative platforms such as
participatory WebGIS or similar ones.
This article details the development of an integrated framework that merges remote
sensing capabilities (including but not limited to UAVs) using GIS models in a collaborative fashion with social capital. To the authors’ knowledge, our efforts represent
the first instance of the merging of multi-resolution remote sensing data, WebGIS,
policy, and disaster management practices to arrive at an analytically rich, practical,
and effective national disaster response structure for Brazil and possibly extendible
to other developing economies. This article describes our work with UAVs for applications in environmental risk assessment, ecological monitoring, landslides/floods
detection, and prediction, as well as regulatory aspects in Southern Brazil.
3.2 Environmental Vulnerability and Susceptibility Studies
Even if our eyes see the world in front of us as a colored 3D structure, it is much
more than that. It is multidimensional. A single spot on the Earth’s surface will have
a certain level of vegetation density or it may be covered by urban settlement or
buildings. And underneath it, you will find a certain type of soil, a water table at a
certain depth, and, if you dig deeper, a certain type of rock. This spot will present
an elevation value related to the sea level. And it may not be at the same plane
related to as the sea level either but it can be present at a certain slope. Depending
on the direction this slope-face (called “aspect”), this spot will receive a certain
amount of sunlight and be more or less exposed to the wind forces. And all of these
characteristics vary along the 3D space and through time. Besides that, the way water
will flow when it rains depend on every one of these characteristics or dimensions.
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located in Southern Brazil, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and
other stakeholders have acted collaboratively to assess geographic information to
help the elaboration of an environmental plan to solve specific community demands
and also to monitor the impact and dynamic aspects of the ecosystem, such as the
occurrence of fire, invasive species, and environmental infractions.
We have developed Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based regional models of environmental risk and how they overlap infrastructure and human settlements
in the Rio Grande do Sul coastal zone (Silva et al. 2011; Silva and Tagliani 2012).
Our current work focuses on enhancing the regional models using precision and
super high-resolution images taken by UAVs especially for those areas already identified as high risk. The greater the precision of these models, the more lives can be
saved because these models can form the basis for public policies in constraining
human settlements on high-risk areas. Moreover, meteorological sensors carried by
UAVs can be employed to collect atmospheric information, providing better precision for the meteorological models at a local level. When these data are integrated
in hydraulic/hydrological models, scene-generation becomes possible, thus allowing
us to predict which regions are vulnerable to floods or landslides depending on different levels of rainfall. This information can then aid rescue teams when a certain
level of rainfall is expected once it is incorporated in collaborative platforms such as
participatory WebGIS or similar ones.
This article details the development of an integrated framework that merges remote
sensing capabilities (including but not limited to UAVs) using GIS models in a collaborative fashion with social capital. To the authors’ knowledge, our efforts represent
the first instance of the merging of multi-resolution remote sensing data, WebGIS,
policy, and disaster management practices to arrive at an analytically rich, practical,
and effective national disaster response structure for Brazil and possibly extendible
to other developing economies. This article describes our work with UAVs for applications in environmental risk assessment, ecological monitoring, landslides/floods
detection, and prediction, as well as regulatory aspects in Southern Brazil.
3.2 Environmental Vulnerability and Susceptibility Studies
Even if our eyes see the world in front of us as a colored 3D structure, it is much
more than that. It is multidimensional. A single spot on the Earth’s surface will have
a certain level of vegetation density or it may be covered by urban settlement or
buildings. And underneath it, you will find a certain type of soil, a water table at a
certain depth, and, if you dig deeper, a certain type of rock. This spot will present
an elevation value related to the sea level. And it may not be at the same plane
related to as the sea level either but it can be present at a certain slope. Depending
on the direction this slope-face (called “aspect”), this spot will receive a certain
amount of sunlight and be more or less exposed to the wind forces. And all of these
characteristics vary along the 3D space and through time. Besides that, the way water
will flow when it rains depend on every one of these characteristics or dimensions.