ENGAGING STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES IN GEOLOGIC MAPPING USING COMPACT UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS - (TINY DRONES)

Interest is growing rapidly in the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) for all manner of applications. The wide variety of off-the-shelf consumer aircraft available today provides many opportunities for field geologists to add them to their toolbox, or better yet, to their backpack. They are fun to use, they capture people’s imagination, and they lure in both students and colleagues eager to learn more.

Common applications include reconnaissance to gain a simple aerial perspective; creating large-scale, nearly real time, base maps on which to work, including orthophotomosaic and contour maps; creating 3D computer models of landscapes or outcrops for measuring distances, areas, volumes, and even temporal changes when preprogrammed flights are repeated over time. Favorite areas can be turned into physical desk models by printing them on 3D printers.

Learning curves can be a little daunting but not insurmountable. Challenges include understanding and adhering to local and federal regulations governing the airspace; learning to fly and maintain particular aircraft; practicing different types of flying, such as manual, assisted, and autonomous flights; and, finally manipulating aerial imagery and flight data in order to produce the desired products.

With the advent of compact collapsible UAVs, geologists have more freedom to take them into the field. Instead of planning one’s day around a drone flight and hiking in with cumbersome equipment, one can carry a compact UAV in a backpack as just another tool, like a hammer or Brunton, to be used when the occasion arises. The photos and/or videos produced can be incorporated into structure-from-motion software to create 3D models and orthophotomosaic maps.

As an example, we have created virtual outcrop models of Neoproterozoic volcanic and glaciogenic deposits in SW VA, for use in our petrology class. Students will apply geologic principles and scientific reasoning to interpret the models prior to their class fieldtrip to the site, leading to less explanation and more exploration on site.