Multispectral Remote Sensing of the Earth and Environment Using KHawk Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This thesis focuses on the development and testing of the KHawk multispectral remote sensing system for environmental and agricultural applications. KHawk Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), a small and low-cost remote sensing platform, is used as the test bed for aerial video acquisition. An efficient image geotagging and photogrammetric procedure for aerial map generation is described, followed by a comprehensive error analysis on the generated maps. The developed procedure is also used for generation of multispectral aerial maps including red, near infrared (NIR) and colored infrared (CIR) maps. A robust Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) calibration procedure is proposed and validated by ground tests and KHawk flight test. Finally, the generated aerial maps and their corresponding Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are used for typical application scenarios including prescribed fire monitoring, initial fire line estimation, and tree health monitoring.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Gowravaram, Saket Navalur

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chao, Haiyang

• Aerospace engineering

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:15541

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/25921