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Flying High: NCCU Uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Research
BARRON ALLISON, a senior majoring in environmental and geographic sciences, goes to the west side of campus once a month to record images of the parking lot behind the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) building.
“We’re looking at how active it is during the year,” Allison said. “How the parking lot is being used, how it might be affected by weather, where runoff might be.”
In past decades, such overhead images would require renting a helicopter or airplane or even booking satellite time. Today, it cost NCCU about $2,000 to buy an unmanned aerial vehicle, better known as a drone.
Drones are being used to conduct all types of research around the world that were formerly costs prohibitive. A professor at the University of California-Davis is using drones to detect wildfires in high-risk areas. A researcher at the University of Tokyo is using drones to determine the perfect day to pick a harvest of Brussels sprouts.
At North Carolina Central University (NCCU), the department of environmental, earth and geographic sciences (DEEGS) has used drones to record images of a 170-acre position of campus to determine the impact of cutting down trees in a flood plain, said Associate Professor Tim Mulrooney, Ph.D. A few years ago, DEEGS partnered with the history department to take drone photos of the homes of famous people in the College Heights neighborhood of Durham. In the spring semester, DEEGS plans to team up with the department of criminal justice to teach crime scene analysis using a drone.
NCCU offers a course aimed at preparing students for the Federal Aviation Administration licensing test for drones, called a Part 107 remote pilot exam.
With the appropriate attachments and software, drones can also measure wavelengths that the eye cannot see such as ultraviolet, infrared and microwave.
“Two plants might look green but the one that gives off more infrared is healthier than the other one,” said Associate Professor Rakesh Malhotra, Ph.D.
There are minor challenges. Battery life on the drone Allison is using is short, requiring him to alternate four batteries. Lighting is occasionally an issue.
Overall, Allison finds it a simple process.
“Flying a drone is pretty easy,” Allison said. “It’s like a video game.”
Theo Noussi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in DEEGS, said that drones are an effective and safer way to look for fallen power lines or view the consequences of an earthquake.
“Drones are very good at dull jobs, dirty jobs or dangerous jobs,” Noussi said.
Michael Berryann, a student of Malhotra’s, is using a drone to monitor High Rock Lake in Randleman, North Carolina, for chlorophyll levels.
“It basically takes an image of 200 to 300 square feet (about the area of a parking space) of water,” Berryann said. The process is straightforward, although Berryann says that he does have to watch for birds.
“Certain birds in the area are territorial and may try to attack the drone,” he said.
BY MARK LAWTON
Michael Berryann (right), a student in Environmental, Earth and Geographic Sciences, works on a drone.
