Unmanned Aerial Systems in Marine Science and Conservation

This PDH or CE course discuss the capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for marine science and conservation applications are growing rapidly at the local, regional and global levels. On June 29-30 2015, Duke University Marine Laboratory hosted a marine science UAS workshop to:

• Better understand technological advances in UAS
• Enhance collaboration with the extraordinary unmanned aerial systems expertise in North Carolina and the eastern coast of the US
• Develop a strategy for educating the public on unmanned aerial systems use in marine science
• Draft a plan of actions and milestones for creating a UAS facility; this facility would serve the unique needs of UAS research in the local marine sciences community and beyond

The workshop provided a forum to assess current challenges and discuss ideas and initiatives to advance adoption of UAS technologies. The workshop had a diverse agenda and an equally diverse group of over 50 experts from government, academia, commerce and civic groups.

Learning Objective:

The learning objective of this PDH or CE course is to learn the use of UAS in the following situations:

• Emergency response
• Identifying and analyzing marine debris
• Monitoring protected and endangered species and their habitats
• Supporting fisheries stock assessments, effort surveys and habitat assessments Supporting marine animal entanglement and stranding efforts
• Monitoring effects of climate change, coastal erosion and sea level rise
• Monitoring sea grass and marsh health

Review the quiz before studying the course.

Course Content

Course Author: Franco F. Davati, P.E