Integrative sUAS Data Collection for Food-Energy-Water Governance
Abstract
Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (sUAS) are rapidly becoming a transformative technology for data collection in the earth sciences. While the data-collection focus is often either on imagery (e.g. biogeosciences, agricultural sciences) or in-situ (e.g. atmospheric sciences), the combination of both is particularly powerful for understanding complex land-water-atmosphere dynamics, especially for decision-making at the conceptual Food-Energy-Water nexus. Monitoring these dynamics in agroecosystems is critical for evaluating and supporting land management strategies that are best for objectives of both ecosystem flourishing and food and energy production. sUAS provide rapid-response and flexible data collection, which has the potential to improve our understanding and analysis of key variables, both land (e.g. imagery of spatial and temporal extent of manure management) and atmosphere (e.g. atmospheric GHG concentrations). Further, sUAS data can integrate with other agricultural information and decision-making technologies, and provide a much-needed bridge between different observation scales and methods.
We present results from a comparison of two technologically integrative studies using sUAS data collection in Vermont agroecosystems: the first from a corn field and the second from a biodigester site. This comparison will provide a way to (1) analyze sUAS platforms, sensors, and workflows and (2) evaluate the use of these sUAS data in combination with other observational data for regional extrapolation of agroecosystem management practices. We aim to provide updated and cutting-edge comparative analysis for monitoring land-water-atmosphere dynamics on working Vermont farms, and showcase the role of sUAS for subsequent assessment of environmental impact and decision-making. As with all information technologies, understanding and managing the social and technical complexities of sUAS data is critical - and substantive challenges remain. We conclude with an updated overview of these challenges, drawing from ongoing sUAS data management community discussions from within international and cross-disciplinary sUAS working groups.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMEP13A..05B
- Keywords:
-
- 9805 Instruments useful in three or more fields;
- GENERAL OR MISCELLANEOUS;
- 5464 Remote sensing;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 8040 Remote sensing;
- STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY;
- 8485 Remote sensing of volcanoes;
- VOLCANOLOGY