High Resolution Imagery Collection Utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Post-Disaster Studies

This paper examines the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as platforms to capture imagery at the neighborhood and individual building level for use in post-disaster field studies. Applications of UAVs in recent disasters as described in the literature are reviewed, and a case study investigating UAV capabilities for imagery collection following the EF-3 tornado impacting northern Alabama on March 2, 2012 is presented. Topics addressed include the multi-rotor UAV equipment and setup, imagery devices, flight considerations and capabilities, and imagery and metadata collection capabilities of the unmanned aerial system (UAS). Sample post-tornado imagery of building damage is shown, demonstrating the order of magnitude improvement in imagery resolution compared to typical post-disaster aerial photography.