UAV / Thermal Infra Red (e.g. FLIR)

Owned by Maiwenn Herpe
Last updated: Jun 21, 2021 by Frederika Mourot
2 min read

Examples of potential applications

  • River/lake temperature mapping.

  • Geothermal zones characterisation/mapping.

  • Groundwater and surface water exchanges.

  • Thermal plume identification.

  • Previsualisation/detection of plant disease (useful in combination with hyperspectral data for this purpose).

  • Monitoring of fire hotspots, powerline surveys.

  • Vegetation surveys.

Range of flight height and captured zone width (m)

Operated within line of sight , observation altitudes often capped at 120 m.

Airshare website

Spectral Range (nm)

c. 8,000 - 14,000 nm.

Spatial Resolution (m)

Depends on flight altitude and lens. Spatial resolution typically less than 15 cm. Thermal response taken as the average of 4 x 4 pixel matrix.

Benefits

  • Very high spatial resolution.

  • Can adjust the time of imagery capture to the needs.

  • Ability to capture data in remote, unsafe or difficult to access locations, lowering safety risks.

  • Relatively low cost.

  • Validation is not required if only relative temperatures are needed.

Limitations

  • Need operator to acquire data in the field and battery life can limit survey duration.

  • Limited by visibility constraints and poor weather conditions.

  • Temperature drift issues.

  • TIR imagery interpretation can be complex and requires expertise.

Selection of references

Casas-Mulet R, Pander J, Ryu D, Stewardson MJ, Geist J. 2020. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-Based Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) and Optical Imagery Reveals Multi-Spatial Scale Controls of Cold-Water Areas Over a Groundwater-Dominated Riverscape. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 8(64). doi:10.3389/fenvs.2020.00064.

https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00064


Eschbach, D., Piasny, G., Schmitt, L., Pfister, L., Grussenmeyer, P., Koehl, M., Skupinski, G., and Serradj, A. 2017. Thermal-infrared remote sensing of surface water– groundwater exchanges in a restored anastomosing channel (Upper Rhine River, France), Hydrol. Process., 31, 1113–1124. doi:10.1002/hyp.11100.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hyp.11100


Harvey MC, Hare DK, Hackman A, Davenport G, Haynes AB, Helton A, Lane JW, Briggs MA. 2019. Evaluation of Stream and Wetland Restoration Using UAS-Based Thermal Infrared Mapping. Water. 11(8):1568.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/8/1568


Poblete, T., Camino, C., Beck, P. S. A., Hornero, A., Kattenborn, T., Saponari, M., ... & Zarco-Tejada, P. J. (2020). Detection of Xylella fastidiosa infection symptoms with airborne multispectral and thermal imagery: Assessing bandset reduction performance from hyperspectral analysis. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 162, 27-40.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924271620300496