USE OF MULTISPECTRAL SENSORS ON UAV AS A HIGH RESOLUTION TOOL FOR RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT

Monitoring of aquatic ecosystems using a multi-platform approach based on the smart integration of data intensive in situ measuring technologies of relevant water quality parameters, continuously and in real time, with spatially explicit Earth Observation methodologies.

Evaluation and analysis of the potential of the use of remote multispectral and thermal sensors on board Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to be used as a flexible tool for high spatial and temporal resolution monitoring of descriptive water quality characteristics in reservoirs; mainly photosynthetic pigments, turbidity and total suspended solids; descriptive parameters of problems with high social and economic impact (eutrophication, blooms of toxic algae) with the final objective of their implementation as monitoring tools.

The project developed by 3edata aims to integrate data taken by satellites, multispectral sensors transported by remotely manned aerial (UAV or RPAS) and underwater (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, AUV) systems, together with data from high frequency probes mounted on automatic profilers. This integration facilitates the monitoring of descriptive characteristics of water quality in reservoirs, with a high spatial and temporal resolution.

Another element of intensive data acquisition that is integrated into the project is the autonomous underwater vehicle Ecomapper AUV equipped with probes for measuring physical-chemical parameters in situ, which makes it possible to obtain a very high density of calibration and validation points for the development of remote sensing algorithms. In this way, and with the collaboration of the Civil Engineering School from the University of A Coruña (UDC), the development of the tool is based on the latest technology commercially available for monitoring aquatic ecosystems using intensive and autonomous data collection techniques.