# UAV Protocols ``` Authors: Rick Ward ``` ## Abstract ## Materials ### Platforms * SenseFly eBee fixed-wing drone * Hexacopter ### Cameras UAV data are collected using one of three cameras: * 5-band [MicaSense RedEdge](https://www.micasense.com/rededge) * 4-band + RGB [Parrot Sequoia](https://www.micasense.com/sequoia) * SenseFly thermal [thermoMap](https://www.sensefly.com/drones/accessories.html) Cameras are carried singly or in tandem on the SenseFly eBee fixed-wing drone (Sequoia and thermoMap, individually only), or a hexacopter (RedEdge or Sequoia, individually or in tandem). ## Procedure ### Flight Standard flight altitude is 44m with 75% image overlap (both sequentially and laterally), and missions are programmed and managed by either [Mission Planner](http://ardupilot.org/planner/index.html#) or senseFly [eMotion](https://www.sensefly.com/software/emotion-2.html). ### Calibration No radiometric calibration was conducted as of Nov 5, 2016. ### Analysis Pix4D software was used to generate gray-scale orthomosaic geotiff files containing NDVI data after georegistration to the WGS84/UTM 12 N coordinate reference system using three to five 2D geo-located ground control points. These are manually matched to 5-40 images each. Ground control points for the Lemnatec Field Scanner are on the concrete pylons and were geolocated using an RTK base station maintained by the USDA-ARS at Maricopa (see section on [geospatial information](/beta/user-manual/data-products/geospatial-information.md)). QGIS software was used to confirm geospatial alignment of NDVI geotiffs with shape files containing geolocated positions of the rail foundations. A shape file containing polygons aligning with the middle two rows of each of the 350 experimental units (for sorghum crop Aug-Nov 2016) was kindly generated by Dr. A French of USDA-ARS. Zonal Statistics in QGIS was used to calculate NDVI means for each plot polygon. ## References * MicaSense: * SenseFly * QGIS --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.terraref.org/beta/scientific-objectives-and-experimental-design/protocols/uav-protocols.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.