The purpose of this collaborative project was to conduct a series of pilot trials in 2014 in order to test the feasibility of such an application, and to provide the needed information and understanding to develop necessary protocols. The project took place in two stages.
In the Spring of 2014, flight trails were conducted in the University of Alberta Rangelands Research Institute Mattheis Ranch in Southern Alberta and Beaver Mines in the Alberta Rocky Mountain foothills to examine: (1) the capabilities and limitations of several different classes and models of UAVs, and (2) the optimal time of day and meteorological conditions for surveys.
Specifically, ACE Lab supplied and tested a small UAV, the DJI Phantom quadcopter, for this comparative exercise. We also tested the use of Ground Control Points using a high-accuracy GPS receiver. Additionally, we developed a basic workflow for photogrammetry processing and shared this with our collaborators, especially the ABMI Geospatial Centre, which will be conducting the analyses using photographic data from future missions, including comparing its effectiveness with LIDAR as an aerial survey technique.
In the Summer of 2014, we reviewed the performance of our UAV and methods in Stage I and constructed a new, more capable UAV with insights gathered from initial flight trails. This new, custom-built UAV was then used to survey pre-selected decommissioned well pads currently monitored by ABMI. The objectives of this stage were to (1) refine UAV capabilities and protocols to the range of actual survey site conditions (2) test the feasibility and effectiveness of the UAV for aerial surveys at these actual sites.
From the many successful trials conducted, UAV-based remote sensing as a method for monitoring well pad recovery is determined to be feasible from a technical and field perspective. UAV technology has advanced in the interim, bringing autonomous, high-endurance UAVs to the consumer marketplace and negating the need for specialized commercial or lab-built aircraft. While many optimizations for cost-effectiveness and efficiency still need to be made, and a robust flight protocol developed, the focus should necessarily shift from the capabilities of the UAV platforms themselves to the need to substantiate the robustness of the workflows from camera to point cloud.