How Stable is Your Site, A Drone’s Eye View
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, have become a popular tool used by engineering, environmental, and construction companies for site monitoring. UAS provide real-time data before, during, and after construction, helping projects to succeed on-time and as efficiently as possible. Wetlands Studies and Solutions (WSSI) has had success with the use of UAS for assessing the stabilization efforts on large scale sites identifying areas that need additional stabilization efforts to ensure compliance with Virginia’s ESC Minimum Standards or special permit conditions that restrict the amount of disturbed area. These assessments can also be used to determine if an area draining to perimeter controls is stable enough for the controls to be removed. In this presentation we will discuss various assessment methods ranging from manual flights recording video of the site to pre-programmed flight paths capturing images of the same area repeatedly that can be used for these purposes. We’ll discuss pros and cons of the various methods and some of the software and hardware that can be used to improve the process.