IDR: Development of a Monitoring System Using UAVs for Forest Management

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this proposal is to develop novel algorithms that are required to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for better understanding the structure of forest ecosystems in relation to fire risk assessment. The algorithms will enable unmanned aerial vehicles to assist in identifying high fire-risk regions in a given area, aid fire managers to monitor and respond to fire propagation in real-time and map large areas for post-fire assessment. The approach is to 1) develop algorithms for creating surface fuel maps using tools by remote sensing, 2) develop approximation algorithms and heuristics to efficiently allocate the resources and plan the motion of the vehicles such that the regions that need to be monitored are visited within a desired time. Intellectual Merit: With regards to remote sensing, the proposed methods will provide an affordable way of obtaining precise estimates of forest surface and canopy fuels that is currently not available. With regards to resource allocation and motion planning, the methods will advance the state of art in the development of fast, sub-optimal algorithms. Broader impacts: Fire managers will be able to swiftly identify high fire-risk regions in a given area using the developed tools and efficiently respond to fire propagation in real-time. Controlled burning has ecological, societal and economic benefits: enhanced ecological processes in fire-dependent ecosystems, abated risk of catastrophic fires, reduced property damage and loss of life. This project will provide an opportunity for students to learn tools from diverse disciplines and valuable teaching material for courses in remote sensing and robotics.