• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.19 no.12
• /
• pp.65-72
• /
• 2018

The uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been expanding in agriculture surveys, obtaining real time updates of dangerous facilities where human access is difficult, disaster monitoring, and 3D modeling. In reality, there is an upsurge in the application of UAVs in fields like, construction, infrastructure, imaging, surveying, surveillance and transportation. Especially, when the slope failure such as landslide occurs, the uses of UAVs are increasing. Since, the UAVs can fly in three dimensions, they are able to obtain spatial data in places where human access is nearly impossible. Despite of these advantages, however, the uses of UAVs are still limited during slope failure. In order to overcome these limitations, this study computes the soil volume change during slope failure through the computation technique using photogrammetric information obtained from UAV system. Through this study, it was found that photogrammetric information from UAV can be used to acquire information on amount of earthworks required for repair works when slope collapse occurs in mountainous areas, where human access in difficult.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.788-797
• /
• 2023

In this paper, we introduced a test environment to test a vision-aided navigation system, as an alternative navigation system when global positioning system (GPS) is unavailable, for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system. It is efficient to use a virtual environment to test and evaluate the vision-aided navigation system under development, but currently no suitable equipment has been developed in Korea. Thus, the proposed test environment is developed to evaluate the performance of the navigation system by generating input signal modeling and simulating operation environment of the system, and by monitoring output signal. This paper comprehensively describes research procedure from derivation of requirements specifications to hardware/software design according to the requirements, and production of the test environment. This test environment was used for evaluating the vision-aided navigation algorithm which we are developing, and conducting simulation based pre-flight tests.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.97-108
• /
• 2016

In this paper, we consider a cooperative monitoring network, which consists of a large number of UAVs, in order to promptly detect event in a disaster area. A command center may not be able to control each UAV individually due to resource constraints. Therefore, UAVs need to autonomously construct a mobile monitoring network in order to maximize monitoring coverage and to adapt the network formation according to environment changes in the disaster area. To that end, we propose multiple UAVs-based cooperative monitoring schemes that uses virtual forces. In this monitoring scheme, an effective monitoring is enabled by extending monitoring coverage using each UAV's circle movements. The UAVs-based monitoring network can also be splitted or merged in order to increase the monitoring effectiveness. Through simulations, we show that the proposed scheme can effectively monitor a large area and achieve a high event detection ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.11-22
• /
• 2017

In recent years, coastal dune erosion has accelerated as various structures have been developed around the coastal dunes. A land cover map should be developed to identify the characteristics of sand dunes and to monitor the condition of sand dunes. The Korean Ministry of Environment's land cover maps suffer from problems, such as limited classes, target areas, and durations. Thus, this study conducted experiments using RGB and multispectral images based on UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) over an approximately one-year cycle to create a land cover map of coastal dunes. RF (Random Forest) classifier was used for the analysis in accordance with the experimental region's characteristics. The pixel- and object-based classification results obtained by using RGB and multispectral cameras were evaluated, respectively. The study results showed that object-based classification using multispectral images had the highest accuracy. Our results suggest that constant monitoring of coastal dunes can be performed effectively.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.475-488
• /
• 2018

Surveying urban tributary vegetation is based mainly on field sampling at present. The tributary vegetation survey integrating UAV NIR(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Near Infrared Radiance) imagery and in-situ point photo has received only limited attentions from the field ecologist. The reason for this could be the largely undemonstrated applicability of UAV NIR imagery by the field ecologist as a monitoring tool for urban tributary vegetation. The principal advantage of UAV NIR imagery as a remote sensor is to provide, in a cost-effective manner, information required for a very narrow swath target such as urban tributary (10m width or so), utilizing very low altitude flight, real-time geo-referencing and stereo imaging. An exhaustive and realistic comparison of the two techniques was conducted, based on operational customer requirement of urban tributary vegetation survey: synoptic information, ground detail and quantitative data collection. UAV NIR imagery made it possible to identify area-wide patterns of the major plant communities subject to many different influences (e.g. artificial land use pattern), which cannot be acquired by traditional field sampling. Although field survey has already gained worldwide recognition by plant ecologists as a typical method of urban tributary vegetation monitoring, this approach did not provide a level of information that is either scientifically reliable or economically feasible in terms of urban tributary vegetation (e.g. remedial field works). It is anticipated that this research output could be used as a valuable reference for area-wide information obtained by UAV NIR imagery in urban tributary vegetation survey.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.126-137
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetation fraction of soybeans, grown under different cropping conditions using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a red, green, and blue (RGB) camera. Methods: Test plots were prepared based on different cropping treatments, i.e., soybean single-cropping, with and without herbicide application and soybean and barley-cover cropping, with and without herbicide application. The UAV flights were manually controlled using a remote flight controller on the ground, with 2.4 GHz radio frequency communication. For image pre-processing, the acquired images were pre-treated and georeferenced using a fisheye distortion removal function, and ground control points were collected using Google Maps. Tarpaulin panels of different colors were used to calibrate the multi-temporal images by converting the RGB digital number values into the RGB reflectance spectrum, utilizing a linear regression method. Excess Green (ExG) vegetation indices for each of the test plots were compared with the M-statistic method in order to quantitatively evaluate the greenness of soybean fields under different cropping systems. Results: The reflectance calibration methods used in the study showed high coefficients of determination, ranging from 0.8 to 0.9, indicating the feasibility of a linear regression fitting method for monitoring multi-temporal RGB images of soybean fields. As expected, the ExG vegetation indices changed according to different soybean growth stages, showing clear differences among the test plots with different cropping treatments in the early season of < 60 days after sowing (DAS). With the M-statistic method, the test plots under different treatments could be discriminated in the early seasons of <41 DAS, showing a value of M > 1. Conclusion: Therefore, multi-temporal images obtained with an UAV and a RGB camera could be applied for quantifying overall vegetation fractions and crop growth status, and this information could contribute to determine proper treatments for the vegetation fraction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.73-84
• /
• 2019

In this research, it is a basic study to investigate the population of birds using UAVs. The research area is Ardeidae species(ASP) habitat and has long-term monitoring. The purpose of the study is to compare the ASP populations which analyzed ground observational survey and UAVs imagery. We used DJI's Mavic pro and Phantom4 for this research. Before investigating the population of ASP, we measured the escape distance by the UAVs, and the escape distances of the two UAVs models were statistically significant. Such a result would be different in UAV size and rotor(rotary wing) noise. The population of ASP who analyzed the ground observation and UAVs imagery count differed greatly. In detail, the population(mean) on the ground observation was 174.9, and the UAVs was 247.1 ~ 249.9. As a result of analyzing the UAVs imagery, These results indicate that the lower the UAVs camera altitude, the higher the ASP population, and the lower the UAVs camera altitude, the higher the resolution of the images and the better the reading of the individual of ASP. And we confirmed analyzed images taken at various altitudes, the individuals of ASP was not statistically significant. This is because the resolution of the phantom was superior to that of mavic pro. Our research is fundamental compared to similar studies. However, long-term monitoring for ASP of South Korea's by ground observation is a barrier of the reliability of the monitoring result. We suggested how to use UAVs which can improve long-term monitoring for ASP habitat.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2019

Unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) can acquire images with lower cost than conventional manned aircraft and commercial satellites. It has the advantage of acquiring high-resolution aerial images covering in the field area more than 50 ha. The purposes of this study is to develop the rice grain yield distribution using UAV. In order to develop a technology for estimating the rice yield using UAV images, time series UAV aerial images were taken at the paddy fields and the data were compared with the rice yield of the harvesting area for two rice varieties(Singdongjin, Dongjinchal). Correlations between the vegetation indices and rice yield were ranged from 0.8 to 0.95 in booting period. Accordingly, rice yield was estimated using UAV-derived vegetation indices($R^2=0.70$ in Sindongjin, $R^2=0.92$ in Donjinchal). It means that the rice yield estimation using UAV imagery can provide less cost and higher accuracy than other methods using combine with yield monitoring system and satellite imagery. In the future, it will be necessary to study a variety of information convergence and integration systems such as image, weather, and soil for efficient use of these information, along with research on preparing management practice work standards such as pest control and nutrient use based on UAV image information.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.33 no.6_2
• /
• pp.1139-1149
• /
• 2017

Measuring tree's volume is very important input data of various environmental analysis modeling However, It's difficult to use economical and equipment to measure a fragmented small green space in the city. In addition, Trees are sensitive to seasons, so we need new and easier equipment and quantification methods for measuring trees than lidar for high frequency monitoring. In particular, the tree's size in a city affect management costs, ecosystem services, safety, and so need to be managed and informed on the individual tree-based. In this study, we aim to acquire image data with UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), which can be operated at low cost and frequently, and quickly and easily quantify a single tree using SfM-MVS(Structure from Motion-Multi View Stereo), and we evaluate the impact of reducing number of images on the point density of point clouds generated from SfM-MVS and the quantification of single trees. Also, We used the Watertight model to estimate the volume of a single tree and to shape it into a 3D structure and compare it with the quantification results of 3 different type of 3D models. The results of the analysis show that UAV, SfM-MVS and solid model can quantify and shape a single tree with low cost and high time resolution easily. This study is only for a single tree, Therefore, in order to apply it to a larger scale, it is necessary to follow up research to develop it, such as convergence with various spatial information data, improvement of quantification technique and flight plan for enlarging green space.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.155-160
• /
• 2018

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is used in various fields, such as land surveying, facility management, and disaster monitoring and restoration because it has low operational costs, fast data acquisition, and can generate a digital surface model (DSM). Recently, the UAV has been applied to process management in construction projects. Construction projects are widely distributed not only in urban areas but also in mountainous areas and rural areas where people are rarely in traffic or in vehicles. Projects range from a few hundred meters to several kilometers long. In order to perform a reconnaissance survey, a surveying method using a global positioning system (GPS) or a total station has mainly been used. However, these methods have a disadvantage in that a lot of time is required for data acquisition. This study's purpose is to evaluate the usability of a UAV DSM for surveying a construction area. Data was acquired using the UAV and a three-dimensional (3D) laser scanner, and the DSM of the construction site was created through data processing. The UAV DSM showed accuracy to within 30 cm based on the 3D laser scanner data, and a process comparison between the two work methods was able to present the usability of the UAV DSM in the field of construction surveying. Future utilization of the UAV DSM is expected to greatly improve the efficiency of work in construction projects.