Opportunities of using Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)

for control of agricultural subsidies Testing in Estonia 2015

Goal: to achive image quality equal to orthoimage or even better

Data souces:1. Area of interest sum 654 ha,

3 areas in radius of 8 km: 378 ha, 178 ha, 98 ha;2. Technical specification was compiled;3. Procurement.

Implementation1. Land-based control-points GPS receiver Trimble R8GNSS

model4 +controller TSC3 For the GCP is used cardboard in black and white grid pattern.

2. Flights between: 12.08.2015—13.08.20153. Small unmanned plane with GPS receiver and camera.

RGB—Canon S95, sensor 7.44 x 5.58, focus 6 mm4. Altitude 400 m5. Image processing (Erdas Imagine ja MapInfo Pro Raster)

Results � 3 ortoimages � EPSG L-EST97 � Pixel size 25cm � RMSE

0,265m—0,478m

RPAS compared with OTSC Area of interest 250haNumber on parcels 38

Total perimeter of all measured parcels 45 km

Using RPAS + on screen measurementsTaking images: 24h (measuring of GCP and flying)

Processing images: 12h

Measuring on screen: 2h 30min

Total time: 38h 30min

OTSCPreparation in office: 4h

GPS measurements on the field: 24 h

Post-processing and data entering: 12 h

Total time: 40h

Made conclusions and raised issues:There are no significant time gains, but there are remarkable savings on labour costs.

If the flight is higher, the flight time will decrease — the whole process will be faster.

Georeferencing is always necessary? — Would it be possible to use images without coordinates for cross complience?

Would it be possible to use in difficult accessable places? - Access is needed for GCP?

Is it reasonable to use RPAS for areas that are too small for ordering sattelite images (islands)?

Needs for using RPAS in the futureLegal supportValidation and permits to useMethology (best practice)

Ortoimage 2014

RPAS 2015