Crimean scientists for the first time monitored water protection zones using a drone aircraft

Crimean scientists for the first time monitored water protection zones with the help of a drone aircraft.

Simferopol, 17 July. Kryminform. Specialists of the Vernadsky Federal University's Centre for Cyberthronomy have for the first time conducted active monitoring of Crimea's nature protection zones with the help of an aircraft-type drone. According to the university's press service, the monitoring was carried out under a joint project with the Crimean Ministry of Agriculture to implement an agricultural transformation platform implemented by the federal ministry.

"One of the tools of the project will be objective monitoring to collect and analyse big data using drones. But no less significant is the system of training specialists to develop competencies in the digital economy to work with digital products and digital technologies," emphasised Roman Nekrasov, Director of the Department of Plant Production, Chemicalisation, Mechanisation and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

According to Viktor Smirnov, head of the remote sensing department of the KFU Cyberagonomy Centre, the use of drones will inevitably affect all countries and regions. "The world is becoming more complex. A lot of processes need to be optimised to ensure stable economic growth. If earlier we associated the word "drone" with the military sector and private consumers, today, UAVs are used to solve tasks in the construction industry, monitoring of oil and gas highways, road works, agricultural industry, and in the near future - in the field of delivery. Our task is to form, train and implement a new competence - UAV operator at the enterprises of Crimea," he commented.

At the beginning of 2020, the Crimean Federal University purchased two aircraft-type drones manufactured by Kalashnikov Concern for a total of over RUB 5 million. The university's specialists received the necessary training to work on the new equipment.

With the help of aeroplane-type drones it is possible not only to control the ecological situation on the peninsula, but also to carry out agricultural monitoring, track emergency situations - forest fires or oil spills, detect illegal developments, dumps and quarries, carry out geodetic surveys and other work related to the study of vast and inaccessible territories.

The ZALA 421-16F1 aircraft-type remote sensing system is equipped with a MicaSence multispectral camera, which allows monitoring the productivity index of plant communities, a visible spectrum camera and a directional camera. The drone can stay in the air for up to 4.5 hours while monitoring up to 50 kilometres from the launch point at an altitude of up to 5 kilometres. The maximum speed is up to 110 km/h.