High-Detail Local Aerial Imaging Using Autonomous Drones

Aerial Imaging is mainly done with small planes from several kilometres altitude. A small unmanned quadcopter (a type of helicopter with four rotors) is an alternative airborne platform, which allows fast aerial imaging of small areas with a higher level of detail and lower cost. It can be used for updates of GI-Systems after natural phenomena, e.g. update of the tree population of areas affected by windthrow from storms. Another possible application is the detection of tree diseases like rottenness or bug infections. We have developed and performed a prototypic workflow for the update of the “Virtual Forest”, a database and framework for efficient forest planning and wood mobilization, using aerial image data collected with the quadcopter AirRobot. We have integrated a software component into VEROSIM, a software solution for virtual reality and GI-Systems, which allows the autonomous routing, flyover and imaging of a selected geographical unit, e.g. a land parcel, and the subsequent georeferenced display of the aerial images.