Measure Ground Control Application

Introduction

    Planning is a crucial step in all UAS operations. It prepares the crew, keeps the equipment organized, and gives an accurate time estimate for the mission. Without proper planning, the likelihood of being unprepared goes up. This wastes a client’s time and can be potentially dangerous. Larger and recurrent operations may benefit from using software to manage the flights and equipment. This is where a SSoT (Single Source of Technology) solution comes in handy. Keeping flight mission planning, execution, and record keeping data in one location enables another layer of organization which I will be exploring this week via the Measure Ground Control software, an SSoT solution. I will also be discussing how checklists, crew resource management plans, and safety management plans are crucial to efficient mission planning and execution.

Exploring the Measure Ground Control Application

    Upon opening the app, you are presented with 4 options: Airspace Map, Settings, Fly and Flight Plans (Figure 10.1). 

Figure 10.1: Measure Ground Control home screen

    First, I will be exploring the Airspace Map (Figure 10.2). This shows my current location as well as the surrounding airspace. You can zoom in and out freely or search for another area to get a better view of the area you will be flying. 

Figure 10.2: Airspace Map of the greater Lafayette, IN area

    The app provides airspace rules and advisories for the current view (Figure 10.3). For example, above Purdue Wildlife Area I see there is Class D airspace with automatic LAANC authorization at or below 400 ft. To be able to apply for automatic authorization (Figure 10.4) the user must possess a part 107 certificate and also have the MGC Mobile App installed and set up on their device. I see that Martell Forest on the other hand is free of airspace advisories.

Figure 10.3: Airspace Map rules and advisories

Figure 10.4: Airspace Map flight authorization

    LAANC is important for commercial operation especially because it legally provides access to otherwise unflyable areas in a quick and efficient manner. Having all this information in one location is helpful for current and future mission planning.

    Moving on to the Settings screen in the app (Figure 10.5). This section allows you to control and calibrate the UAS platform and sensor settings. This helps streamline the pre-flight tuning process and ensures easy checklist completion.

Figure 10.5: Settings screen

    In the Fly screen, you can view the stats of manual flight operations (Figure 10.6). Here it is shown not connected to a UAS actively flying (Figure 10.6). It resembles a pilot’s heads up display where you can double check that all of your sensors are set up properly and functioning, the SD card is successfully reading and writing, and more. It functions very similarly to the DJI Go/Go 4 apps (Figure 10.7). The benefit of this app however is that it is a fully integrated, all-in-one solution.

Figure 10.6: Fly screen

Figure 10.7: DJI Go 4 app

    Last but not least: Draw a Flight Plan. This functionality allows you to pick one of two flight plan types: waypoint or grid (Figure 10.8). Waypoint allows the user to program and autonomously fly to locations of the user’s choice. There are advanced actions and options that can occur at waypoints such as landing, ascending or turning 180 degrees just to name a few. Grid on the other hand, essentially creates the waypoints for you. A grid is overlaid on your area of choice which can then be customized.

Figure 10.8: Draw a Flight Plan: Grid vs Waypoint

    For the purpose of this post, I will be walking through setting up a grid flight plan “using” the Zenmuse XT2 Thermal 13mm lens over the Martell Forest. The placement of the grid is fairly simple. I choose the area I want it to occur over, place it, adn adjust the size as needed (Figure 10.9). For this flight I turned on terrain following adn terrain avoidance. Terrain following predicts the elevation of the terrain and allows the UAS to adjust to the altitude above the terrain. This change in elevation can be seen through the gradient in color of the flight path (Figure 10.9). Terrain avoidance allows the UAS to search and react to unpredicted terrain while in flight. I personally always keep this checked just in case I am missing something that I do not see.

Figure 10.9: Drawing the flight plan over Martell Forest

Conclusion

    Mission planning, accurate record keeping, and equipment maintenance are essential organizational steps in every UAS operation. Using an SSoT model helps with the organizational process by reducing the amount of distractions in a UAS mission. Measure Ground Control is just one software that can be used as an SSoT solution.

Experimenting with Arc Collector

Introduction

    ArcCollector is a useful tool for quickly collecting metadata, field notes, and (quick and easy) GCPs while in the field. Personalized layers can be constructed for unique jobs and the possibilities are endless. While I would take this data’s accuracy with a grain of salt as it is only as accurate as your phone's GPS, it can be a very useful tool when working with and understanding the more precise data collected on the job. The interface makes it quick and very easy to use. In certain situations, this allows the user to significantly enhance their GIS experience.

Methodology

    Today, I worked through 2 tutorials illustrating how Arc Collector can be used to collect real life data and then I went on to make my own custom layer.

Tutorial: Try Collector

    For this tutorial, I went to a local nature area to tag some notable landmarks. My first stop I found a family bathroom. I logged this with a photo (shown below).

Figure 9.1: Logging the bathroom in Arc Collector

    Next, I rode my bike along the nature path as it streamed my location (shown below). This feature is particularly helpful if the path is not otherwise marked on the map.

Figure 9.2: Streaming location on the path

Tutorial: Make your first Collector map

    In this tutorial I walked through recreating the form that enabled me to collect data at the park near my house in the last tutorial. The first step was to prepare a layer. ArcGIS Online provides templates that let you define all aspects of the layer which I used to recreate the Parks map. I did most of this step within ArcGIS Online in a browser on my laptop. I started with the "points, lines, and polygons" template. I then defined a list of attributes which I want to be able to add to the map in the field (Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3: Defining attributes for my layer

Once the layer was saved, I went ahead and created an actual map containing this layer. I set the appropriate symbols to match the attribute names so that when I view the map later I can quickly tell what everything is (symbols shown below).

Figure 9.4: Assigning the attribute symbols
to be easily recognizable

Lastly, I deployed this map in Arc Collector and hit the road. I took a bike ride over to the nature area in question and actually tested the layer. I found, logged and photographed a water fountain, restroom and a picnic table (shown below). The final map (linked here) contained one of each asset type I defined. I would have attempted to log more but this nature area was rather small.

Figure 9.5: Final map with fountain, bathroom
and picnic bench logged

Conclusion

    An app such as Arc Collector is very useful for quickly and easily logging the locations of specific objects, trails and even more. This app provides and easy and customization way to do this. Particularly, if there is a team working in a certain area for a job this provides an easily shareable way to keep everyone informed.

Value Added Data Analysis with ArcGIS Pro

Introduction

    This week, I worked through the ArcGIS tutorial: Calculate Impervious Surfaces from Spectral Imagery. Impervious surfaces are impenetrable by water and can have detrimental environmental effects. One way to identify such surfaces is to segment and then classify aerial imagery within ArcGIS. 

Methodology

Step 1) Segmenting the Imagery

    To determine what is impervious vs pervious, sections of the aerial imagery must be identified as such. First I extracted the spectral bands using the “Extract Bands” Raster function. This classifies segments of the imagery based on color which simplifies further classifications.

Figure 8.1: Initial segmentation of the aerial imagery

Step 1) Classifying the Imagery

    I then used the “Classification Tools” to perform a supervised classification using training samples that I gathered myself. The training samples consisted of polygons drawn on known areas which helped the algorithms to identify like areas. Once the processing was completed I used the “Reclassifier” to touch up some errors that were misclassified.

Figure 8.2: Training samples used to classify imagery

Figure 8.3: Final classification of imagery

Conclusion

    Segmenting and classifying imagery is useful for digesting aerial images beyond just finding impervious surfaces. It can be used to identify pretty much anything that can be picked up in a band with the appropriate sensor. I have seen this used in everything from finding water in a landscape or determining the progress of plant growth. This can be used for agricultural purposes, lands planning, and many more applications.