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Drone Navigation in Polar and Cryospheric Regions


Type

Thesis

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Authors

Sheridan, Iain 

Abstract

Aerial and underwater drones present a paradigm shift away from the long term use of manned airplanes, helicopters and mini-submarines. This is evident from the number of scientific research articles that focus on research data obtained with drones. For instance, a special edition of the International Journal of Remote Sensing consists of 65 articles focused solely on aerial drone research (Remote Sensing, Vol 38, 2017). A second special edition consists of another 36 aerial drone articles (Remote Sensing, Vol 39, 2018). While less prevalent, underwater drones are also playing an ever increasing role in scientific research and proving to be effective contributors in many contexts (Harris, 2018; Zhou et al 2019). For example, if a typical daily drop camera productivity rate is 700 images per day, underwater drones can already achieve 15,000 images per day (Smale et al 2012). This study predominantly examines the use of aerial drones at high latitudes and in cryospheric regions. The study aims to provide insights into the navigation accuracy of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) use for drones, and the accuracy levels of drone positioning data achieved by GNSS augmentation. Currently, drone use in the global polar and cryospheric community is limited, and there is a scarcity of data on drone GNSS navigation and augmented measurements. The drone use survey in this study attempted to gain insights on general GNSS accuracy and augmented GNSS. The drone survey data obtained is the first representative sample from this close-knit community across the specialisms of climatology, ecology, geology, geomorphology, geophysics and oceanography. The drone survey data revealed that many different combinations of augmentation were used to obtain sub-metre and even sub-decimetre accuracy.

Description

Date

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Keywords

Qualification

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Awarding Institution

University of Cambridge