FIn the past decade, an increased number of humanitarian operations have benefited from the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones. With their higher resolution and flexibility, drones offer an effective way to capture aerial imagery for multiple purposes including damage assessment, population displacement, land registering, situation monitoring and disaster preparedness and risk mitigation efforts. As an example, especially in large-scale sudden onset disaster situations, arranging the aid distribution to the affected area requires knowledge about the road accessibility. Acquiring this information with a land-based assessment is time consuming, while a deployment of a helicopter costs a lot of money. In the meanwhile, the weather conditions may not be ideal for tasking of satellites. In such circumstances, drones may provide a fast and cost-effective method for obtaining the required imagery and knowledge.
As with the satellite imagery, drones also come with a range of practical, technical and ethical limitations that should be taken into account when considering their deployment. While many industrialized countries have regulated the use of drones in their legislation, this is not usually the case with the least developed states. This does not mean that one should not check if any national or local regulation exists. For example, flying of drones might not be allowed at the proximity of airports or military sites. Beyong the legal issues, one should also consider the ethical issues, including the safety of the drones, as well as the accountability to the population in the area of interest. Are the people in the area - possibly just affected by a major disaster - aware if and why the drone(s) is being flown at the proximity of their homes?
Furthermore, as with all humanitarian processes especially in large-scale disasters, a coordinated approach is likely to help each stakeholder to make most out of the drone use. With proper coordination, we can avoid a situation where each actor is deploying their own drone, duplicating the effort while leaving behind other affected communities.
Process (Draft version, TBC)
1. Setting the aims and objectives
As with the other technologies supporting the humanitarian efforts, UAVs should not be deployed without careful consideration for the added value they will bring to an operation. Good questions to ask oneself include:
- What is the added value of the UAV imagery? Could alternative methods, such as satellite imagery or ground-based assessment do the same job?
- Do I have the technical and professional capacity to make use of the UAV imagery? Do I have the sufficient analytical skills to intrpretand draw conclusions from the findings?
- What will be the benefit for the affected communities?
- What is the required resolution for the imagery? This is an important point to take into account as the resolution of different UAV cameras vary significantly.
2. Determining the Area of Interest (AoI)
The process of determining and defining a sufficient AoI will depend of the scope and objectives of a project. For example, when mapping of a small-sized individual refugee camp with clear boundaries, the area within those boundaries will be the AoI. However, in the context of large-scale disasters such as earthquakes or tropical cyclones with impact on multiple districts, there might not be sufficient time to cover all the affected areas. In such situations, prioritization and/or sampling might be required for defining a suitable AoI.
3. Identifying and procuring the UAV operator
In many humanitarian contexts, there might be already a business agreement in place with a relevant UAV operator. However, this is not necessarily always the case, especially in remote areas with low technological capacities. Ideally, as with any humanitarian procurement, a strong preference should be given to local operators, preferably those with a proven track record of quality services. An externally produced operator (including a non-local NGO or INGO) should be used only in case there is no local capacity or technology to deliver the requested services on time.
4. Specifications for the flying process
5. Flying the UAV, capturing the imagery
The actual flying of an UAV should take place in ideal weather conditions.
5. Processing the imagery
6. Analysis and conclusions
7. Sharing the findings
Checklist
UAV Standard Operational Procedures
Tips
Text should include: Step by Step, Checklist, SOPs, Tips
Outputs/Resources
Text should include: Essential Reading, Additional Readings, Templates. Examples, Tutorials