Rotary-Wing Remotely Piloted Aircraft Applied to Veredas Studies

Abstract

Veredas (palm swamps) are important Cerrado biome physiognomies, and still little studied. In this context, the development of geotechnologies can provide an important contribution to facilitate further studies of these wetlands. Specifically, the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to obtain aerial photographs of high spatial resolution may represent a facilitating mechanism for studies in Veredas. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the possibility of using rotary-wing RPA as a resource for obtaining aerial photographs that make it possible to delimit and distinguish different strata of vegetation cover, as well as buritis (Mauritia flexuosa) within this physiognomy. Aerial survey was carried out in 30 Veredas, located in three Cerrado hydrographic basins. Subsequently, aerial photographs were processed in order to check the possibility of extracting the desired information. Our study showed that the Phanton 4 Pro system equipped with a digital camera, model FC6310, with 20 MP CMOS sensor, mechanical shutter and FOV 84° 8.8 mm / 24 mm lenses, small-format camera used in this research, is a reliable means for obtaining aerial photographs and can be used as a source of information for environmental studies of Veredas.