Topics Webinar | Drones for Rural Development II
Topics Webinar | Drones for Rural Development II
Part of the Topics Webinar: Drones for Rural Development series
Drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Rural Development, Precision Agriculture, Livestock Recognition and Monitoring, Detailed Forest Mapping
Welcome from the Chairs
The utilization of drones is experiencing global growth, with the notable emergence of fresh applications and uses continually occurring. In remote, rural regions, drones have the potential to perform a wide range of tasks, including surveillance via cameras or other sensors, acting as mobile gateways to provide connectivity or facilitating the transportation of goods to challenging, remote locations. While many of these applications are closely associated with primary sector activities like agriculture and livestock, their adaptability extends to various other industries and urban areas.
This webinar will present three referent European projects for developing rural areas, and it will use drones as the main thread. The scope of drone utilization in rural regions is extensive, spanning across sectors like agriculture, forestry, livestock, other industrial domains, environmental monitoring, and the assessment of water quality in rivers and lakes. Drones also play a vital role in firefighting efforts and providing assistance to the population, particularly elderly individuals.
We are privileged to have recognized industry and academic experts who will share their experiences and insights on how to effectively leverage these technologies to achieve better results and improve drone productivity in different applications. So, whether you are a researcher, applied scientist, commercial drone user, or simply interested in the latest trends in drones, we invite you to join us for this webinar.
Date: 19 September 2024 at 02.00 p.m. CEST | 8:00 a.m. EDT | 8:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 892 0367 9034
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Webinar Recording
Event Chairs
Cartographic and Land Engineering Department, Higher Polytechnic School of Avila, University of Salamanca, Hornos Caleros, Avila, Spain
Received a B.Sc. degree in Surveying Engineering and a M.Sc. degree in Geodesy and Cartography Engineering from Salamanca University, Spain, in 1999 and 2001, respectively. He was a Research Assistant at INRIA, Grenoble, France, in the Institute of Computer Vision and Robotics, where he also performed his PhD research on 3D reconstruction from a single view, graduating in 2005. He has authored over 370 research articles in international journals and conference proceedings. He is also the co-inventor of 11 patents and 32 intellectual properties (software). Based on his PhD results, he has received nine international awards from the International Societies of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS/ASPRS). In 2005, he founded the research group TIDOP (https://tidop.usal.es) (Geotechnologies for the 3D digitization and modelling of complex objects) at the University of Salamanca. He is a Full Professor and Head of the Geotechnologies Master and PhD Program at the University of Salamanca, as well as co-founder and CEO of the start-up ITOS3D (Image TO Smart 3D). In 2015, the Royal Academy of Engineering recognized his efforts and work in the field of engineering and, in particular, in the democratization of photogrammetry. In 2020, the ISPRS recognized his special, personal, and meritorious contributions in the field of photogrammetry, with him being the second Spanish citizen ever to get this award from its origin in 1996.
Department of Mining Technology, Topography and Structures, University of León, Avda. Astorga, Ponferrada, Spain
Prof. Dr. Pablo Rodríguez Gonzálvez, surveyor (2004), geodesist and cartographer (2006) and PhD in photogrammetry (2011), worked at the university of Salamanca for 8 years before joining the university of León in 2017. He is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Mining Technology, Topography and Structures, and coordinator of the DRACONES research group. He has authored over 120 research articles in international journals and conference proceedings, all related to the transversal application of different Geomatics techniques. He has been the main researcher of eight technological contracts, the majority of which were associated with the University–Business Knowledge Transfer and related to the application of Geomatics to different disciplines. He holds 10 national patents and 20 intellectual properties. His main research lines include photogrammetry 3D reconstruction, accuracy assessment, and radiometric and geometric calibration of different geomatic sensors. Finally, he is member of the National management committee of COST Action CA16219 “Harmonization of UAS techniques for agricultural and natural ecosystems monitoring”, and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Drones.
Keynote Speakers
Departamento de Ingeniería Cartográfica y del Terreno, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
CHAMELEON Bundles: Detection of Woody Debris in Rivers
Dr. David Sánchez-Jiménez is a researcher and coordinator of the geospatial section in the TIDOP group at University of Salamanca, Spain. His doctoral thesis, titled “SfM-3DULC: Development and validation of a photogrammetric procedure for the scanning, measurement, tissue classification and clinical follow-up of skin wounds”, was funded by the European Social Fund of the Generalitat Valenciana. He has experience in European and national geospatial projects. His main research interests include medical applications of photogrammetry, computer vision and object detection, and the authentication of paintings using ultrasonic and structured light techniques.
Nydor System Technologies AE, Athens, Greece
Monitoring Open Field Grazing – Using Multi-purpose UAVs, Direct Sensing Telemetry and Edge Computing for Cloud Based Digital Twinning
Dr. Costas T. Davarakis is the Managing Director of NST AE and is leading the Livestock Pilot for Project SPADE (HE-101060778). Before SPADE, he had successfully coordinated project H2020-786993 SPIRIT (www.spirit-tools.com). Dr. Costas T. Davarakis is based in Athens, Greece, and since 1986, he has been acting on behalf of different research organizations/departments in the public and private sectors. He has participated in EU Research and Innovation activities since 1986, involved in every EU Research Framework since, i.e., Esprit I, II, III, FPIV, V, FP6,7, H2020, and now HE, and served as the project coordinator of seven EU projects (Ephaestus, Electron, Lab@Future, MoveOn, Playmancer, Mobiserv, and Spirit). For SPADE, he has recently presented/co-authored, with other SPADE Livestock technology partners, the SPADE Livestock platform and edge-computing tools in European Workshops in Frascati, Italy, and Athens, Greece.
ICAERUS: Innovations and Capacity Building in Agricultural, Environmental, and Rural UAV Services - Crop Monitoring and Drone Spraying Use Cases
Dr. Vasilis Psiroukis is an Agricultural Engineer and a scientific associate at the Agricultural University of Athens. He holds a diploma in Agricultural Engineering and an MSc in Geoinformatics from the National Technical University of Athens. His expertise lies in precision agriculture, spraying applications, and machine learning/image analysis in agriculture. Vasilis has been involved in numerous research projects, including those focusing on UAV data for crop monitoring and yield estimation. He has contributed to the development of innovative plant protection technologies and sustainable farming practices. He is currently completing his PhD on drone spraying and is leading the Drone Spraying Use Case in the ICAERUS project.
Noumena, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 690, Barcelona, Spain
ICAERUS: Innovations and Capacity Building in Agricultural, Environmental, and Rural UAV Services - Crop Monitoring and Drone Spraying Use Cases
Ms. Esther Vera Moreno is a Computer Vision and Robotics Engineer who thrives on exploring cutting-edge developments in machine learning, deep learning, and computer vision applied to innovative solutions. Throughout her academic journey, she has had the opportunity to work with several companies, such as Segula Technologies, on a drone navigation project integrated with ROS2 and OpenCV, INNO3 in Alicante and the Stockholm Gastro Center in Stockholm. However, technology has not been her sole focus. In all her projects, she has consistently strived to consider their sustainability aspects and enhance them. To learn more about how she could make a positive impact, she collaborated with VAUA, an environmental volunteering group at the University of Alicante. While working on her Master's thesis, focused on 3D Face Reconstruction with a multicamera system, Esther also sought new challenges to continue improving her skills in computer vision and robotics. Additionally, she works for Noumena and is involved in the ICAERUS project. In this role, she is working on the Drone Data Analytics Library and leading the Crop Monitoring Use Case.
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CEST |
| Prof. Dr. Diego González-Aguilera & Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez Chair Introduction |
2:00 pm - 2:10 pm |
| Dr. David Sánchez-Jiménez CHAMELEON Bundles: Detection of Woody Debris in Rivers |
2:10 pm - 2:30 pm |
| Q&A | 2:30 pm - 2:35 pm |
| Dr. Costas T. Davarakis Monitoring Open Field Grazing – Using Multi-purpose UAVs, Direct Sensing Telemetry and Edge Computing for Cloud Based Digital Twinning |
2:35 pm - 2:55 pm |
| Q&A | 2:55 pm - 3:00 pm |
| Dr. Vasilis Psiroukis & Ms. Esther Vera Moreno ICAERUS: Innovations and Capacity Building in Agricultural, Environmental, and Rural UAV Services - Crop Monitoring and Drone Spraying Use Cases |
3:00 pm - 3:20 pm |
| Q&A | 3:20 pm - 3:25 pm |
| Prof. Dr. Diego González-Aguilera & Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez Closing of Webinar |
3:25 pm - 3:30 pm |
Relevant Special Issues
Aerial and Drone LiDAR Data for Geomorphological Mapping, Landform Extraction and Landscape Evolution
Guest Editors: Dr. Dario Gioia, Dr. Nicodemo Abate, Dr. Giuseppe Corrado, Dr. Antonio Minervino Amodio and Prof. Marcello Schiattarella.
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2024
UAV Agricultural Management: Recent Advances and Future Prospects
Guest Editors: Dr. Hamdi Zurqani and Dr. Alessandro Matese
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2024
Geographic Information Technologies and the New Challenges of Globalization in a Changing Environment
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Ana Nieto Masot, Prof. Dr. Gema Cárdenas and Dr. José A. Gutiérrez Gallego
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024
Spatial Information for Improved Living Spaces
Guest Editors: Dr. Ivana Ivánová, Dr. Yongze Song and Prof. Dr. Sisi Zlatanova
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2025
Relevant Papers
"Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Agro-Terrestrial Surveys Comparison for Generating Digital Elevation Surfaces for Irrigation and Precision Grading"
Drones 2023, 7(11), 649; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7110649
"Recent Advances in Crop Disease Detection Using UAV and Deep Learning Techniques"
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(9), 2450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15092450
"Review of Remote Sensing Approaches and Soft Computing for Infrastructure Monitoring"
Geomatics 2023, 3(3), 367-392; https://doi.org/10.3390/geomatics3030021
"Analysis of Landscape Character Assessment and Cultural Ecosystem Services Evaluation Frameworks for Peri-Urban Landscape Planning: A Case Study of Harku Municipality, Estonia"
Land 2023, 12(10), 1825; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12101825
"Assessment of Ecosystem Service Value in Response to LULC Changes Using Geospatial Techniques: A Case Study in the Merbil Wetland of the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India"
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(4), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12040165
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
