There’s an interesting report in the drone press about a company in Oxford who are offering not only to survey a forest but also help replant it from the air using drones. See http://www.dronethusiast.com/drones-can-save-entire-forest-sky/.
Now this is interesting for us, because within our group of associates we have a soil and mining surveys specialist and an environmental sciences group. Both have provided us with examples for the use of autonomous systems to do more than simple surveying. The Oxford group back this up.
The reality of surveys is that they are more than just monitoring. Surveying coasts, forests, soils and tundra, along with wildlife usually needs serial time series data, and it also often needs equipment drop offs or even interventions as in the above which bring change to the surveyed territory. For example, if you are monitoring a flood plain, it;s good to know the extent of the flood, but if you can deliver equipment to monitor the change in flood conditions that adds real value. In addition, if the flood is continuing because water pumps have failed, deliver new parts to get those going again can save lives and property.
The VTOL capability of Sky Hopper, carrying masses a lot greater than a bag of seeds, opens up a swathe of new opportunities for environmental and infrastructure management. This is why we focus so much on the commercial futures of “droning” rather than simply drone vehicles.
If when you read this you too can see these futures please consider helping us with a donation – it’s easy and we reward those with vision – please go now to http://bitly.com/skyhopper.