Site Mapping with Drones

Another successful week mapping! We’d like to thank the communities for their local ecological knowledge on unmapped ground. We worked in tandem with communities and the KFS to make observations on the ground. Also we believe that a ground truthing approach that mixes both drone data as well as firsthand observation is essential.

Special thanks given to the RFC and the whole KFS team for their continued support and particularly the KFS drone pilots, Kioko and Paul for their sustained efforts in obtaining crucial GIS data.

To focus on the method employed on the drones. During our expedition, we deployed the DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral drone to capture high resolution red, green, blue and near-infrared (RGBN), allowing us to analyse data the human eye cannot see and help us map complex mangrove ecosystems with precision. The ability to combine fieldwork with actionable aerial insights makes a huge difference in accuracy and efficiency.

Prior to the expedition, data acquisition parameters were preloaded via the ground control interface before flight, with missions flown at an altitude of 100m and imagery captured at 2 second intervals. The Drone team were successful in covering over 1000 hectares of land in 6 days.

Technology like this is proving invaluable for environmental monitoring, conservation planning and data driven decision making in challenging terrains like mangroves.

We are excited to share our results once they become readily available.

Wishing the team the best of luck as they travel to Kipini this week.