Drones play a big role in helping us understand the natural environment and the impact that we have on it. But the same attributes that make drones so useful in the environmental sciences also make them useful in other fields. We are constantly at risk of losing valuable history from heritage sites around the world
In the past decade, drone technology has advanced from clumsy, expensive, DIY kits to sleek, user-friendly, commercial models. Each new improvement and advancement in processing software has expanded the number of fields where drones can help solve problems. It can be hard to keep up, especially if you’re someone without a remote sensing background. So
The old saying “a stitch in time saves nine” is pretty apt for environmental monitoring and management. The sooner that we can spot a problem in the environment, the smaller it usually is and the easier it is to fix. When a problem goes unnoticed for a while, it can quickly snowball and become very
Drones and their data processing software continue to evolve. As they do, we discover new ways to collect and process data. As the storyteller for GeoNadir, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to lots of amazing people who work with drones. This week, I spoke to Dr Jeff Gillan from the University of Arizona. He’s
Here at GeoNadir, we want to create the biggest repository of free drone image datasets and drone mapping imagery from around the world. We want to make sure that all drone data is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) so the treasure trove of knowledge stored in drone images can be used by people all over
Accurate topographic data supports emergency management strategies, land-use planning, mining operations, and many elements of environmental research. Thanks to NASA’s Shuttle Topography Radio Mission (STRM), most of the earth now has at least 30m resolution elevation data. But for many projects, this just isn’t enough detail. Drone surveying presents a new, flexible, affordable method for collecting elevation
Drones are an extremely useful tool for capturing large quantities of high-quality environmental data. But you might not realise just how much data you can capture with them, especially when you start adding sensors. So here’s a rundown of the most common types of environmental sensors you can use with a drone, and the data
If you were watching international news in February, you would have heard about the devastating landslides that swept through the Brazilian city of Petrópolis. Extreme rainfall along the Serra do Mar range triggered 269 landslides. Combined with flash flooding 217 people died and more than 850 homes were destroyed. While this natural disaster was undeniably catastrophic,
If you’re a farmer in Western Australia, dryland salinity is an old enemy. It takes productive pastures and croplands and turns them into barren, salty fields. In southwest WA, dryland salinity has caused the loss of over 1 million hectares of productive agricultural land. A further 2.8 to 4.5 million hectares of productive land is at risk
If you’ve been looking at the GeoNadir platform recently, you would have seen that it’s had a pretty big update. Making maps with drone orthomosaics is now easier than ever with GeoNadir’s cool new feature called “Create”. This new feature lets you draw on, label and measure your orthomosaics directly on the platform! So what
Intermittently Closed and Open Lakes and Lagoons (or ICOLLs for short) are a common ecosystem near many coastal towns. But despite being on many people’s back doorstep, local communities often misunderstand them. This makes managing these systems tricky, especially when what the environment needs isn’t what the community wants. Stories from Above is about learning
There are lots of advantages to using drone mapping over traditional survey techniques or satellite imagery for data collection. But to make the most of drone mapping, you want to make sure you’re using the right equipment, and that starts with picking the right drone. What are the options? When people think of drones, multirotor
It’s not news that glaciers are retreating globally. In recent years, the steady retreat of glaciers has been one of our most visible indicators of climate change. Between 1994 and 2017, 6.1 trillion tonnes of ice was lost from the world’s glaciers. But understanding the relationship between climate change and glaciers isn’t as simple as
The flooding in south-east Queensland and northern NSW has been some of the worst in decades for many regions. As the weather system responsible moves south, clean-up and damage assessment begins in QLD. New South Wales is bracing for more heavy rainfall. Australia is no stranger to flooding. Most of our towns and cities
Like most Australians, you probably haven’t given much thought to oyster reefs, except when you’re ordering a yummy entree for your night out, or watching out for their sharp shells on your beach trip. But for many of the coastal towns of NSW, oysters are an important source of income and heritage. The sheltered waters
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