Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Environmental Monitoring—An Efficient Way for Remote Sensing

Airborne photographs can be expediently used in environmental monitoring; e.g., in the surveillance of the state of natural reserve areas, such as wetlands; or in the measurement and mapping of pollutants, such as oil spills on a lake or sea. A new and cost-effective platform of airborne remote sensing is the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) or drone. In this experimental work, aerial photos were made in Bakony Mountains using three UAVs equipped with small HD (high definition) cameras; resolution: 1,280 × 720 pixels. Within the framework of this work, a small lake was photographed, where the beginning of eutrophication was detected. This hardly can be observed from ground, however, it is visible on the aerial photos. The airborne surveillance of areas of ragweed (Ambrosia sp.) populations was also investigated. It was found that both UAVs are feasible for these tasks, and the application of these platforms for environmental monitoring is advantageous, especially in case of natural reserve areas since those are very silent and—contrary to big aircrafts and helicopters—do not disturb the ecology even in natural reserve areas and the people living there. Moreover, those could be operated in a very flexible and economic way, and the aerial photos taken are highly informative.