Budgetary Unoccupied Aerial Systems for Environmental Surveying: A Social Perspective

Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UASs) have undergone extensive growth in the past decade. This growth has resulted in the application of these systems from highly niche application to application across many fields including consumer usage. This research explores the implementation of UASs for environmental surveying that has an impact on social groups. While much literature exists using custom UAS systems with large budgets, the use of budgetary consumer available UASs for these purposes is still in its infancy. This research suggests that budgetary and accessible consumer UAS systems can be used to benefit social groups that lack access to high-quality geographic data. Ultimately, the lower barrier-of-entry of cost, skill, and ease of access, allows research to be conducted that previously would have been unfeasible. Furthermore, the inclusion of Public Participation GIS can further benefit social groups through community input and participation with these systems. A systematic review was developed exploring existing studies that pertained to specific criteria that implements the themes of environmental surveying, the impact on a social group, and the use of a UAS. The systematic review is supplemented by survey responses from the authors of the specific studies explored in this research. Based on the explored studies, budgetary UASs has the potential to benefit social groups through environmental surveying that may have been previously limited by the previously higher barrier-of-entry. However, the most notable results of this research suggest that this field is still in its infancy and themes that pertain to this research are not always considered in the original explored studies. Furthermore, privacy and security concerns are seldom addressed. While the growth of this technology has significant potential, there are still many factors to consider when deploying these systems as means of data collection in communities

Assessing Safety and Suitability of Old Trails for Hiking Using Ground and Drone Surveys

Hiking is a popular recreational activity and to cater to public demand, it is apt to increase the number of hiking trails. Various methodologies have been proposed to evaluate the suitability of forest trails to be constructed as hiking trails, but they can be costly and require relevant knowledge in analyzing digital information through a high-throughput dataset. Therefore, there is a need to come up with a simple method to obtain first-hand information on the trail condition, particularly considering the aspects of safety and suitability to hikers, using both on-ground and aerial observations. In this study, we introduce a new assessment approach to analyze and select old forest trails to be reconstructed as new hiking trails. This is useful for park managers who prioritize safety, comfort, and aesthetic features of the recreation site for their visitors. Trail condition assessment was carried out along the trail whereby a 2×2 m sampling plot was constructed at every 100 m. Aerial drone survey was conducted to produce an ortho-mosaic that revealed the percentage of exposed trail from above. Potential phytotourism products and scenic spots were identified and recorded for their locations along the trail to promote the aesthetic value of the recreation site. A strength distribution plot was prepared based on the trail condition, canopy coverage, and aesthetic features along the trail that were categorized using three altitude ranges (n ≤ 150 m, 150 < n < 250 m, n ≥ 250 m a.s.l.). This is to assess the trade-offs in safety, comfort, and aesthetic features along the trail. The development of this methodology offers a direct and cost-effective, yet informative approach to evaluate the quality of a potential hiking trail, thus could effectively aid in the promotion of nature-based tourism