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unmanned air ...
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features
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Consistent delivery
of superior quality data
Civilian Unmanned Air Vehicles typically deliver raw, or, processed data from both Aerial Surveillance and Geophysical Survey work.
Compared with manned aircraft, the UAV is able consistently to deliver superior quality data, since many UAVs can be used at the same time and can work together.
UAVs can fly day and night,
slowly and safely, if need be, at low levels, closely hugging rugged
terrain, precisely following a defined flight plan.
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Unmanned Aircraft can provide better quality data
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attribute
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feature
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comments
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quality of raw data gathered by
sensors on the Unmanned Aircraft
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high data accuracy
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- several Unmanned Aircraft cover the same area,
to enable identification of instrument
errors, or, drift, with post processing, to reduce these inaccuracies
- precision flight path,
closely following the terrain
- very low interference in the
magnetic and gravity measurements, from the small Unmanned Aircraft
- low level night flight, when the
disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field are at a minimum
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high data resolution
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- can use very high resolution ADCs,
since the small Unmanned Aircraft introduces less field perturbations
- opto-isolation of sensitive
circuits
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low data noise level
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- use many Unmanned Aircraft, to cover the same area N times to reduce the
noise level by sqrt(N)
- fly slowly, to increase sensor
integration times
- use specially designed Unmanned Aircraft,
with very low payload vibration levels
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high spatial resolution
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- very low flying (20 m above
ground level)
- scan separation = flight
height, as low as 20 m
- use many Unmanned Aircraft, to create high resolution synthetic aperture
receiver
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survey time
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on-time completion
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- back-up Unmanned Aircraft used for mission
completion, even if some UAVs suffer systems failures
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shorter survey duration
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- many Unmanned Aircraft, flying slowly to get
high quality data, complete the survey sooner than a manned aircraft
generating lower quality data
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aerial surveillance area coverage
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- comprehensive, persistent,
coverage resulting from the deployment of many Unmanned Aircraft
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real time data
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- adaptive data rate relay links,
with bit rates up to 2.5 Gbps, support real time data downloads
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Unmanned Aircraft technology will
contribute more accurate geophysical survey data
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- the potential for low level (20 m above ground) night
flying (when disturbances to the earth's magnetic field and cultural noises
are typically at their lowest and there are few civilian flights about) over
what could be rugged terrain
- the slow flying capabilities (down to 40 knots, or so) of the
Unmanned Aircraft, allowing for data integration and consequent noise reduction
- the very small perturbation the small, mostly carbon fibre,
Unmanned Aircraft has on the surrounding magnetic and gravitational fields. The aircraft
controls are in magnetically and electromagnetically shielded units and the
units are themselves linked, using
optical fibre technology
- the ability to use several UAVs to cover the same survey
area, so allowing for noise reduction through data averaging and the detection
of any instrument drift
- precision, computer controlled, navigation and flight control, using precision GPS, several Inertial Measurement Units and a
responsive flight control system.

From James Macnae presentation at SEG 2006.
For Airborne ElectroMagnetic (AEM) surveys,
the best time to perform the survey is from midnight to noon, ideal time for
Unmanned Aircraft, especially at night, when there are few, if any, commercial flights
around.
© Barnard Microsystems Limited 2006 - 2008
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