First legal authorization of mapKITE operations: application to coastal erosion monitoring in the project HYCOS
One of the major drawbacks regarding the adoption of drone technology for professional applications has been -and still is- the lack of an homogeneous regulatory framework. The result is a rather conservative operations framework, in which new, ice-breaking drone applications are lessened. So far, mapKITE has not been an exception to this rule, as it has been also questioned in relation to its fit within the upcoming regulatory framework.
Yet, a big milestone has been achieved to overcome this issue: the first authorization by a civil aviation authority has been granted for mapKITE operations, paving the way for the adoption of mapKITE by professional users in the mapping community. The Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC) granted a permission to execute mapKITE operations to Octocam, a Barcelona-based company partnering with GeoNumerics in mapKITE, given the compliance of their aerial platform and procedures with French categorization (scenario S1, category E).
Fig 1. The HYCOS team, ready to operate mapKITE at Cap Ferret (March, 22nd 2018)
On March, 22nd and 23rd 2018, the consortium of the HYCOS project, composed by GeoNumerics, GEOSAT and Telespazio France, worked together to set-up its first test campaign. The project HYCOS aims at the hybridization of multi-platform, multi-resolution observation methods (satellite, drone and mobile mapping) to address the monitoring of coastal erosion at the Atlantic French coast. The tests specifically covered the area of Cap Ferret, a popular French coastal area, located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Arcachon, in which natural erosion combined with the severe winter storms in recent years has made the site particularly unstable and dangerous.
The HYCOS project is implementing mapKITE as a part of its multi-platform approach, combining the aerial drone platform of Octocam, equipped with a high-resolution optical camera, and the mobile mapping system of GEOSAT, equipped with LiDAR technology and optical cameras. The goal is to obtain high-accuracy 3D models of the dune beach at Cap Ferret in different periods of the year, specially after winter storm episodes, to measure the dune erosion in 4D. Under the lead of Telespazio, satellite imagery from the Pléiades system was tasked for March, 22nd, complementing the ground acquisition by providing a wide-area overlook of the area.
The campaign was a success (here is a short video of the measurement campaign) and closely followed by stakeholders interested in Blue Growth. On-going efforts focus on post-processing for orientation and terrain reconstruction, and the next scheduled measurement campaign will take place in the same area in September, 2018.
GeoNumerics is a research and development (R&D) intensive small-and-medium-enterprise (SME) company specialised in geomatics and accurate navigation.
GEOSAT is a group of 140 people involved in all domains related to 3D/4D measurement with a solid experience in public and private geometric surveys since 2000. GEOSAT has set up its own R&D center, innovating in 3D modeling, urban planning, geo-processing, detection & geo-referencing networks.
Telespazio France draws on its extensive expertise in telecommunications, earth observation, navigation and digital technologies to offer a wide range of data collection and distribution services particularly for the media and major retailers. Telespazio also develops and provides complete geo-information services sourced from a catalogue of data and products.
Octocam-maps is a branch of Octocam-vision devoted to aerial surveying work based in drone technology, and is partnering with GeoNumerics in HYCOS to execute the aerial-component of the HYCOS missions.
The Direction générale de l’Aviation civile (DGAC) aims at ensuring the safety and security of aerial transport placing the logic of sustainable development at the center of its action. The agency deals with sustainable development , safety, security, airspace control, economic regulation, sustain to aeronautical construction, general aviation, aeronautical education, etc.
PROJECT DETAILS
Acronym: HYCOS
Title: Hybrid Coastal Monitoring
Period: 2018-01-01 to 2018-10-31
Funding: European Commission (EC) - Horizon 2020 (H2020) through the NEPTUNE project (INNOSUP-1-2015)
Participants: GeoNumerics (ES), GEOSAT (FR)
Other participants: Telespazio France (FR) as Innovator Actor
H2020 web: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/
NEPTUNE project web: http://neptune-project.eu/
The project HYCOS has received funding from the European Community's Horizon 2020 Programme under Grant Agreement NEP-EURECAT-84-GEONUMERICS. HYCOS is a supported project of the NEPTUNE innovation action (INNOSUP-1-2015).