Data from the specialized literature show that in the last decade there has been a rapid development in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for obtaining spatial information from the pastoral environment. The idea of investigating grassland surfaces with the help of drones was based on the following practical considerations: the size and complexity of pastoral space and the need for data acquisition in hard-to-reach areas and in a short time. In this context, the purpose of the research is to integrate UAV technology and GIS applications into pratological research, the results obtained having both practical and methodological character. For the efficient research of the pastoral space with UAV equipment, a working model was developed, complex from a technical point of view, consisting of several stages: identifying the areas of interest, planning and setting the flight parameters, "photographing" the area, downloading and image processing, and then processing the results in the GIS environment. From each stage, geospatial products can be extracted, and the final products can be used in various ways, both in the pastoral space and in other segments of the geographical environment. Following the application of the working algorithm results the orthophotoplan and the point clouds, from which can be extracted topo-cadastral information (related to the "physical" surface of grasslands), pratological information (related to vegetation and mode of use) or useful information in territorial planning (risk phenomena, relief aspects), with high precision and spatial location. Compared with the classical research methods, the use of the working model based on geomatic technologies, has the effect of reducing the working time and the number of operators, the possibility of tracking time and space of the investigated territory, but also the formation of graphic and descriptive databases that they can be used in other subsequent projects.
The paper presents a descriptive model, applicable in agricultural theory and practice, for determining the quantity of alfalfa hay obtained from a land surface, using remote investigations, by geospatial methods and means. The working algorithm was tested in a rural area located in the northern part of Romania, in the Humor Depression, and the data acquisition was made with DJI Phantom 4 Pro - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle equipment. For the automated calculation of the amount of alfalfa hay harvested from a certain surface and stored as haystacks, the following steps were carried out: processing the images acquired with the drone to obtain the point clouds, determining the 3D model of the haystacks, calculating the volume of hay stored in the stacks and converting the volume in quantity of hay/surface. As a result of the measurements and calculations carried out, a quantity of hay of 11.96 tons/ha was obtained, data verified and validated by the researches from the specialized literature. Compared with the agronomic methods, the use of the geomatics techniques, to determine the quantity of hay harvested from an agricultural area, presents a series of practical and economic advantages: they exclude the manual measurements in the field and, therefore, the displacements on extended surfaces; reduce the working time; have high precision because, for the estimation of the haystacks volume, three-dimensional models are used, instead of the traditional mathematical formulas. At the same time, geospatial data is acquired through drone flying, which can be used in other types of analysis. The working algorithm can also be applied to other studied objectives or research topics.
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the applicability and opportunity of the means and methods of remote sensing (MMS) and photogrammetry (UAV) in rendering faithfully, with very high accuracy and precision, the components of geographical space, "remotely", without a direct contact with the investigated objective. As a case study, a immobile consisting of a construction and the related agricultural land, located in a rural locality, was chosen. To investigate the targeted immobile, a flight with UAV equipment (DJI Phantom 4RTK) and a "ground" scan with MMS equipment (Leica Pegasus Backpack) was performed. After the acquisition and separate processing, the data obtained through the two technologies (point clouds, orthophotoplans or images), were analyzed and processed in a "combined" way, in this case being obvious their complementarity relationship. As both the drone and the scanner have incorporated GNSS and INS equipment, the data obtained are "in coordinates" and therefore the use of control points and the georeferencing operation is excluded. By combining these "remote" measurements, the detailed topographic survey (with GPS and total station) is replaced and by 3D analysis all the details from the outside, but also from inside the plot are captured. By creating the orthophotoplan, the way of land use, aspects related to vegetation or the way of arrangement can be analyzed. The equipment used and the working methodology "experienced" in this study can be applied in any type of space or for any purpose.
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