Environmental Practice

Table of Contents - 2006 - Volume 8, Issue 03  


FEATURES & REVIEWS

RESEARCH ARTICLE: Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Rangelands: Current Applications and Future Potentials

Albert  Rango  a1 c1 , Andrea  Laliberte  a1 , Caiti  Steele  a1 , Jeffrey E.  Herrick  a1 , Brandon  Bestelmeyer  a1 , Thomas  Schmugge  a2 , Abigail  Roanhorse  a3 and Vince  Jenkins  a4
a1 USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
a2 College of Agriculture, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
a3 Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
a4 Securaplane Technologies, Inc., Tucson, Arizona

Article author query
rango a   [Google Scholar] 
laliberte a   [Google Scholar] 
steele c   [Google Scholar] 
herrick je   [Google Scholar] 
bestelmeyer b   [Google Scholar] 
schmugge t   [Google Scholar] 
roanhorse a   [Google Scholar] 
jenkins v   [Google Scholar] 
 

Abstract

High resolution aerial photographs have important rangeland applications, such as monitoring vegetation change, developing grazing strategies, determining rangeland health, and assessing remediation treatment effectiveness. Acquisition of high resolution images by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has certain advantages over piloted aircraft missions, including lower cost, improved safety, flexibility in mission planning, and closer proximity to the target. Different levels of remote sensing data can be combined to provide more comprehensive information: 15–30 m resolution imaging from space-borne sensors for determining uniform landscape units; < 1 m satellite or aircraft data to assess the pattern of ecological states in an area of interest; 5 cm UAV images to measure gap and patch sizes as well as percent bare soil and vegetation ground cover; and < 1 cm ground-based boom photography for ground truth or reference data. Two parallel tracks of investigation are necessary: one that emphasizes the utilization of the most technically advanced sensors for research, and a second that emphasizes the minimization of costs and the maximization of simplicity for monitoring purposes. We envision that in the future, resource management agencies, rangeland consultants, and private land managers should be able to use small, lightweight UAVs to satisfy their needs for acquiring improved data at a reasonable cost, and for making appropriate management decisions.

(Received October 28 2005)
(Revised July 12 2006)
(Accepted July 20 2006)


Correspondence:
c1 Address correspondence to: Albert Rango, Research Hydrologist, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, MSC 3JER, PO Box 30003, NMSU, 2995 Knox St., Las Cruces, NM 88003; (fax) 505-646-5889; (e-mail) alrango@nmsu.edu