Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Flood Risk Management: Results of Terrain and Structure Assessments
Abstract
The 2017 Duck Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Pilot Experiment was conducted by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Field Research Facility (FRF), to assess the potential for different UAS to support US Army Corps of Engineers coastal and flood risk management. By involving participants from multiple ERDC laboratories, federal agencies, academia, and private industry, the work unit leads were able to leverage assets, resources, and expertise to assess data from multiple UAS. This report compares datasets from several UAS to assess their potential to survey and observe coastal terrain and structures. In this report, UAS data product accuracy was analyzed within the context of three potential applications: (1) general coastal terrain survey accuracy across the FRF property; (2) small-scale feature detection and observation within the experiment infrastructure area; and (3) accuracy for surveying coastal foredunes. The report concludes by presenting tradeoffs between UAS accuracy and the cost to operate to aid in selection of the best UAS for a particular task. While the technology and exact UAS models vary through time, the lessons learned from this study illustrate that UAS are available at a variety of costs to satisfy varying coastal management data needs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1176761
Entities
People
- Alexander D. Renaud
- Brittany L. Bruder
- Jeffrey G. Ruby
- Jessamin A. Straub
- Katherine Brodie
- Michael F. Forte
- Nicholas J. Spore
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center