Unmanned Aerial Systems for Disaster Response and Recovery

Speakers

Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne – Spatial Analysis Laboratory Director, University of Vermont

Event Overview

Natural disasters can severely impact transportation networks. Immediately following a major flooding event, knowing the location and extent of the damage is crucial for incident managers. Commercial Remotely Sensed (CRS) data is an invaluable resource in that it facilitates damage mapping, particularly in areas where deploying ground crews is not feasible. Traditional methods of acquiring CRS data can be costly and cumbersome, and the end products may lack the temporal and spatial resolution characteristics to be of use to managers. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have the potential to overcome these limitations. In this presentation researchers described a decision support system centered on a lightweight, easily-deployable UAS capable of capturing mapping-grade 2D imagery and producing 3D models suitable for a range of post-event analyses. Presented by the US DOT Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. More information is available at https://www.transportation.gov/utc/unmanned-aerial-systems-disaster-response-and-recovery.

Sponsors

Sponsored by The Office of Research and Technology (OST-R), University Transportation Centers Program.