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Assessing the effect of flight altitude and overlap on orthoimage generation for UAV estimates of coastal wetlands

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Abstract

There has been a constant increase in technology regarding unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems in the last decade; yet the possibility of surveying large areas with such aerial platforms has been hampered by their low endurance. This situation has been exacerbated in low institutional capacity countries with high biodiversity coastal environments where constant monitoring is required for conservation purposes. The objective of this study was hence to determine an optimal flight mission over an initial area of 40 ha of coastal wetlands using a low-cost UAV system. The UAV missions were planned at altitudes of 60, 80, 100, and 120 m. Several orthoimages were generated with different along/across track overlaps (in intervals of 10% from 40 to 90%) in order to determine the minimum flight duration and computational efficiency. Results indicated that flight altitude and across track overlap were the most relevant variables in terms of flight distance, flight duration, number of generated images, and computer processing time. The optimal flight mission was found to be at 120-m altitude with an along/across track overlap of 60/50%. Based on the aforementioned parameters, we were able to survey a larger area of 200 ha with minimum flight duration and computer processing time. Our study highlights the feasibility and limitations of using a consumer-grade UAV in order to assess coastal wetland areas rapidly when field-based surveys approaches are not possible.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica under Grant #IA100218, and the Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología under Grant #622. We thank Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (FONATUR, Mexico) for the special permission to access private property within the conservation area. FFdS is grateful for field assistance by Luis Alberto Díaz-Lara. Guillermina Fehér edited the English text. Yokinaro Raymundo-Arredondo processed the 120-m height data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Unidad Académica Procesos Oceánicos y Costeros, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-305, Av. Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Cd. México, Mexico

    Francisco Flores-de-Santiago & Ranulfo Rodríguez-Sobreyra

  2. Subcoordinación de Percepción Remota, Comisión Nacional Para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), 4903 Liga Periférico-Insurgentes Sur, Tlalpan, 14010, Cd. México, Mexico

    Luis Valderrama-Landeros

  3. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Joel Montes Camarena s/n, 82040, Mazatlán, Sin, Mexico

    Francisco Flores-Verdugo

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  1. Francisco Flores-de-Santiago
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  2. Luis Valderrama-Landeros
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  3. Ranulfo Rodríguez-Sobreyra
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  4. Francisco Flores-Verdugo
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Correspondence to Francisco Flores-de-Santiago.

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Flores-de-Santiago, F., Valderrama-Landeros, L., Rodríguez-Sobreyra, R. et al. Assessing the effect of flight altitude and overlap on orthoimage generation for UAV estimates of coastal wetlands. J Coast Conserv 24, 35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-020-00753-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-020-00753-9

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