AT409 Capstone Project: Detection and Analysis of Diurnal Heat Patterns through UAS Data

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Project Description:

Jarrett, Luke, and Tim have decided to utilize thermal imagery for studying the diurnal heat patterns that occur throughout the day. We will be flying a thermal camera over an area and measuring the temperature of the ground, buildings, and water to see the different effects that different materials have on temperature exchanges throughout the day.  The flights will take place in several locations with different land features to see how heat patterns change from early morning to night.

Our deliverable items will include a thermal map of a given area from 4-5 different flights at regular intervals throughout the day. The map will include land features such as hills and bodies of water as well as buildings and other man made structures.

Roles and Responsibilities:


Luke: Pilot in Command

  • Flying the platform
  • Pre and Post-flight checklists
  • Checking out equipment
  • Develop flight plan
  • Charging batteries
  • Safety management

Luke will be the primary pilot-in-command. He will be in charge of Pre and Post flight checklists, making sure that all the necessary equipment is acquired beforehand, and making sure that all batteries are sufficiently charged before every mission. He will also be in charge of the development of flight plans in the DroneDeploy software and will oversee safety management systems.

Jarrett: Visual Observer

  • Maintain visual contact with vehicle during flight
  • Record metadata for flight
  • Crew resource management
  • Review checklists for PIC
  • Primary writer/editor
  • Monitor weather conditions to make sure crew and platform are safe

Jarret is to be the Visual Observer. During flight he will make sure that the UAV is within line-of-sight and that it follows the flight plan. He is also responsible for the recording of the metadata for flights, crew resource management, double-checking the checklists that the Pilot in Command creates, and will be the primary writer and editor of the blog posts and reports.

Tim: Data Management

  • Ensure that SD card is with the vehicle and that it is properly formatted for each flight
  • Determine what data will need to be collected
  • Ensure that data is properly saved to SD card after flight
  • Schedule keeper
  • In charge of combining thermal images to make a thermal map of the specified area
  • In charge of processing a 3D orthomosaic of the specified area to be combined with the thermal data

Tim will be in charge of the data. He will be ensuring that the SD card is properly formatted and inserted into the system before the flight and that the data is uploaded to the computer once the data has been collected. He will also be responsible for keeping the schedule for data collection outings, deadlines for important aspects of the project, processing the collected thermal images to make a composite thermal map of the area, and processing a 3D orthomosaic of the area to be combined with the thermal data.

These roles are relatively fluid and are subject to change over the course of the project but, for now, this will be our point of reference for responsibilities. There will be aspects of the project that will be shared between group members like