UAS Colorado has announced the completion of an innovative mapping project using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) within the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in south central Colorado. This project was a collaborative effort facilitated by UAS Colorado that also included Black Swift Technologies (BST), the National Park Service (NPS), and Wohnrade Civil Engineers, Inc. (WCE).
Working in conjunction with NPS park staff, the goal of this project was to develop precision mapping approaches using high-fidelity remote sensing to monitor change detection, measure dune height in the vicinity of the Star Dune, and to visualize and document the natural resources that the NPS is responsible for protecting.
Aerial view of the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
For this project, Wohnrade Civil Engineers became the first FAA-licensed service provider to use a UAS to successfully map a one (1) square mile area of the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. The UAS data collection was performed on October 19, 2016 using the SwiftTrainer fixed-wing drone developed by Black Swift Technologies. The resulting terrain data set will be compared to a 2011 airborne LiDAR acquisition prepared by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
For additional technical details about this historic UAS mapping project, please navigate to https://goo.gl/YUYg4h. Interested persons are welcome to download project data examples, which include an orthomosaic image and derived elevation contours.
UAS Colorado is a non-profit business league, committed to promoting and improving the commercial drone industry in Colorado, particularly supporting the safe integration and use of unmanned aircraft systems throughout the state for the benefit of the public.
Black Swift Technologies is an engineering firm based in Boulder, Colorado specializing in the development of next generation small unmanned aircraft platforms and technologies.
Wohnrade Civil Engineers of Broomfield, Colorado, provides a broad range of professional engineering services to public and private sector clients in Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska since 2002.
Top photo: SwiftTrainer fixed-wing UAS hand-launch by pilot-in-command Jack Elston, just outside of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in south central Colorado.
Source: Press Release