Small Flying Drones focuses on small flying drones and their applications in conducting geographic surveys. Scholars and professionals will discover the potential of this tool, and hopefully develop a conceptual and methodological framework for doing the following things: a) Translate their data acquisition needs into specifications. (b) Use the developed specifications to choose the best accessible configuration for their drones, and (c) Design and organize effective and low-cost field deployment and flight operations by integrating technical aspects with regulatory and research requirements.
Readers can apply this knowledge to work in cartography, environmental monitoring and analysis, land-use studies and landscape archaeology. Particular attention is also given to the reasons why a drone can dramatically boost a geographer's capability to understand geographic phenomena both from hard-science and humanities-oriented approach.
Chapter 1. Small Drones and Geographic Observation
Chapter 2. Concepts and Issues
Chapter 3. Opportunities
Chapter 4. Zooming on Aerial Survey
Chapter 5. Examples from the Boundaries of Geographical Survey: Architecture and Flood Modelling
Dr Gianluca Casagrande is an Associate Professor of Geography and Scientific Director of the Geographic Research and Application Laboratory (GREAL) at the Universita Europea di Roma, Italy.
Dr András Sik is the Director of Geospatial Services at the Lechner TudaskoezpontLechner Tudaskoezpont in Budapest, Hungary.
Dr Gergely Szabó is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Geography and Geoinformatics at University of Debrecen, Hungary