Presentation organized at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, in the frame of our GeoHealth Thai Platform project.

1. Use of drone for field observation
Presentation of applications in emergency response
Arnaud Vandecasteele | Mapali
Vincent Herbreteau | IRD & SEAS-OI
Kraichat Tantrakarnapa | Mahidol University
Mapali | Cartographics’ innovation designer

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Introduction
Drones myths and realities
How does a mapping drone work?
Drones and emergency response
Conclusion
1
2
3

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Introduction
Arnaud
Vandecasteele
Aerial Drones
And Remotely
Operated Vehicles

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Arnaud Vandecasteele | Mapali
Specialized in geographic data acquisition and analysis
www.mapali.re
0693 06 25 81
mapali_gis
Introduction
Gathering data Analysis Development Support

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UMR ESPACE-DEV
Linking Earth observation, information systems and environmental integrated approaches
towards environmental observatories dedicated to sustainable development
Research group on “Environment, Societies and health Risks” (ESoR) focuses on:
 Infectious human diseases in the Tropics
 Health issues with spatial and environmental components
Introduction

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Introduction
• A precise map of your study area?
• Up to date data?
• Very accurate pictures of an area?
• Same area mapped on different time period?
• …
Have you ever wanted to have

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Part I
Drones :
Myths and
Realities

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Drones: a hot topic & a gray area

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Are you ready for the
weirdest drone ?

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Seriously?
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Ok, go back to something
more serious!

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Benefits & limitations
Delayed deployment Few hours to days 24 to 48 hours Few hours
Monitoring capability 1-5 days <12 hr <1 h
Coverage area (km²) 25 to 1000 10 to 1000 Up to 10
Spatial resolution >= 50cm/px 3 to 60 cm/px 3 to 15 cm/px
Source: The potential of aerial platforms in a
‘rapid’ emergency response context
Peter Spruyt, Guido Lemoine
JRC Scientific and policy reports
2013
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Aerial drones type
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Rotary Fixed Wind
Civilian Drones
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Be careful of your local drone’s regulation
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Agriculture
Mining
Monitoring
Environmental
protection
Emergency
response
…
https://www.sensefly.com/applications/overview.html
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Drone use cases

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Partie II
How does a
mapping drone
work?

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Fully automated
Flies, acquires images
& lands itself
Optimised range
Up to 50 min flight time
For coverage of up 12 km2
Super lightweight
< 1kg equipment included
On board artificial intelligence
Automatic safeties procedures
(GPS Loss, strong wind, etc.)
Green technology
Brushless electric motor
Low noise, low pollution
Nadir & oblique pictures
Images transformed into
2D orthomosaics & 3D models
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
A focus on the eBee

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Intuitive planning, monitoring & control software
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Optical &
Infrared
Multi
Spectral
Thermal
Mapping Sensors
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Type of sensors

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RGB Sensor
Accuracy up to
2.5cm/px
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Near Infrared
Sensor
Widely use for
for vegetation
analysis
Red Edge Sensor
Water stress
detection
Multispectral
Sensor
4 bands (R, G, Nir
and red Edge)
in the same time
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Thermal sensor
water distribution,
check irrigation
systems,
assess the
functionality
of solar panels
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
From aerial pictures to …

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Orthophotography
(georefrenced
image)
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Digital Elevation
Model
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Point Cloud
Volumetric
computation
3D Modelling
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Mapping the impossible

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ADD EXAMPLE
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
A concrete example

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Part III
Drones and
emergency
response

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Why use a drone ?
Reduce
risk for
workers
Up to date
data
Different
sensors
Fly below
the clouds
Highly
deployab
le
Cost
efficient
Suited to perform the « 3-D Missions »
Dirty
Dull
Dangerous

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Up to date data for emergency response
Source: The potential of aerial platforms in a
‘rapid’ emergency response context
Peter Spruyt, Guido Lemoine
JRC Scientific and policy reports
2013
Useful actionable situation information needs to be
integrated in the common operational organization
within 24 hours after the event
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Typical disaster relief lifecycle
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
• Temporary Infrastructure /
Supply Delivery
• Wildfire – Detection and
Extinguishing
• Dealing with Chemical,
Biological, …, Explosive
(CBRNE) Event
• Search and Rescue Operations
• Reconnaissance and Mapping
• Structural integrity Assessment
• Insurance Claims Response and
Risk Assessment
• Logistics Support
Recovery Prevention
PreparationResponse

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Missions
Year Event UAV
Fixed
Wing
Rotary Search Mapping
Structural
Inspection
Estimate
of debris
2011 Thailand Floods Fibo UAV-1
FIBO UAV
2012 Finale Emilia Earthquake (Italy) NIFTi 1
NIFTi 2
2013 Typhoon Haiyan (Philippines) unknow
2013 Lushan China earthquake HW 18
2013 Earthquake & Hurricane
recovery in Haiti
eBee
2014 Fukushima Tsunami recovery eBee
2015 Bennet Landfill SC (USA) Precision
Hawk
Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
In January 2015, drones have been used in 43 disasters in 13 countries

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Realized by :
Drone Adventures
In coordination with
IOM (International Organization
for Migration)
and OpenStreetMap
45 km² covered
Outputs : Aerial map and 3D Model
Examples of use :
3D terrain models of some dangerous
ravine was used to perform water-
flow simulations and decide where to
build infrastructure to mitigate
flooding
Haiti Hearthquake
http://droneadventures.org/haiti/#1

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Fukushima – reconstructions after earthquake & tsunami
http://droneadventures.org/fukushima/#1

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Realized by :
Drone Adventures
In coordination with
Center for Spatial Information
Science at the University of Tokyo
Three sites mapped:
Lidate village: received some of the
highest levels of contamination of
radioactive elements
Hisanohama: Highly damaged after
the tsunami damage
Tomioka: the closest town from a
nuclear wasteland
Fukushima

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
Source: Fornace et al. Mapping infectious disease landscapes:
unmanned aerial vehicles and epidemiology. Trends in
Parasitology, 2014
Study of macaque movements
and malaria cases in Malaysia

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Drone, myths and reality How does a mapping drone work? Drones and emergency response
GOOGLE X-Project:
Goods delivery by drones

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Study Ecology of pathogens and vectors
• High-resolution mapping of the habitats of
pathogens and vectors
• Acquisition of data below the cloud cover and at
specific dates:
Follow the dynamics of water bodies during
different seasons
Possibility to iterate rapidly the observations
(ex. weekly)
Population exposure
• Identify the houses exposed to hazards
• Identify social inequalities (from a typology of
housing)
Conclusion
Possible use of drones for health studies
Vector control
• Target specific areas for vector control
(such as spray of insecticides), in order to
reduce the amount of products sprayed
and the exposure of people manipulating
products
Health care management
• Drug delivery in areas with difficult access

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Green Technology
Almost no noise
Electric motor
Relatively affordable
You own your data
Many possible outputs
Easy and fast to deploy
Can fly under the clouds
Conclusion

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Questions ?
Relevant readings
Adams, Stuart M. and Carol J. Friendland , 2014, “A Survey of UAV Usage for Imagery Collection in Disaster Research
and Management.”
Adams, Stuart M., Marc Levitan, and Carol Friendland, 2014, “High Resolution Imagery Collection Utilizing
UAVs for Post-Disaster Studies.”
Carlos Alphonso F. Ezequiel, 2014, “UAV Aerial Imaging Applications for Post-Disaster Assessment, Environmental
Management and Infrastructure Development.”
America Red Cross, 2015, “ Drones for Disaster Response and Relief Operations.”