Our first birds-eye view of the world began with balloons in the 1700s. Now aerial drones are tackling a lot of human-intensive chores – in search-and-rescue operations, package delivery, and gathering more efficient and precise data for research.
And that last point makes NRRI GIS Specialist Kristi Nixon very grateful. Especially since NRRI invested in a new vertical take-off and landing drone that covers twice as much area with twice the accuracy as the old eBee fixed-wing drone.
“For me, it’s about quantifying a large area that would take a very long time to do on the ground,” she said. “We can see what’s out there and take measurements from one location.”
The new Wingtra One Gen II was purchased in October 2023, and Nixon was surprised by how many research projects quickly queued up for assistance. Over the past year, she’s monitored a mining site, emerging wild rice stands, forests for tree health and peatland bogs.
Benefits of the Wingtra over the old eBee quickly emerged. Aside from being faster, it takes off straight up, so doesn’t need a large take off or landing area.
“With our old fixed wing drone, the belly landings were a bit terrifying. They were basically crash landings,” said Nixon. “It would crash into trees and rocks. We were constantly getting it repaired.”
The Wingtra is also larger and can carry a heavier, more powerful camera capable of imaging multiple spectral bands at once. The spectral bands are specific ranges of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum and can capture detailed information about the Earth's surface.
Nixon’s first test was a comparison of the eBee and the Wingtra on a 100-acre circle flight plan, which the Wingtra won hands-down. The 24 megapixel camera (Sony a6100) attains a ground resolution down to 1.2 centimeters – quite an improvement over the eBee’s camera (Canon Powershot S110) at 12 megapixels. And the new multispectral camera (MicaSense RedEdge-P), which includes the near-infrared band, is especially good at gathering vegetation data.
And using downloadable data from the MnCORS (Continuously Operating Reference Station), the Wingtra obtains a higher “absolute accuracy” of the imagery’s position on the landscape than using the statewide Global Navigation Satellite System alone. Absolute accuracy, unlike spatial accuracy, compares to what’s actually on the ground without the need to trudge across a site to set markers that help make the accuracy corrections.
“And that means that we can get really high resolution and high accuracy imagery much more quickly, even for sites that are otherwise inaccessible – a huge improvement,” Nixon added.
The value of the Wingtra investment has been demonstrated within NRRI's 500-plus acres of restored fens peatland. The site is being assessed for indicators of restoration success – the right plants coming back, the insects, birds and other wildlife – that show the results of the 20-year process. And to get the data, scientists had to don deep muck boots.
“Your typical cattail-type wetland is much better studied than fens and bogs which are difficult to work in,” explained Valerie Brady, NRRI aquatic ecologist who is leading research at NRRI’s Fens Research Site.
Nixon has now spent quite a bit of time at the Fens site, standing on solid ground and letting the Wingtra get the detailed vegetation information needed, without damaging the mosaic of vegetation and sensitive mosses.
“Kristi’s drone flights allowed us to get tons more data, more accurately and much more quickly than we ever thought possible,” added Brady.