PROPELLER

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VL7J6fQVYBRnlfLv1w1lZHf-rjM-n-wE/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VL7J6fQVYBRnlfLv1w1lZHf-rjM-n-wE/view?usp=sharing

Our project was to develop an educational website, which can be used to promote the use of UAV and satellite data in urban development to local stakeholders. In the time frame of the challenge, we did not manage to produce the actual website, as we spent our time on the research of different ways of using these data sets and developing the design of the page, as our goal was not only to be educational, but to have a frame that is visually engaging.

First of all, we had to research drones in-depth to be 100% clear about the topic and how UAVs can be efficiently used. Our research plan looked something like this:

'After a natural disaster has happened, you have to act quickly since many people's lives can depend on that. You have to analyse the damage, and the safeness before you can send a crew for rescue. This is where drones come in!...(

1. Main ideas as solutions:

• signal amplifiers 
• 5G controlled drones
• Types of drones which can be used: tinywhoopsand specialized -(combine!)

1. Description/explainer, advantages and disadvantages for each:

Signal amplifier (compared to 5G): 

• Cheaper
• More accurate=less latency
• Can be controlled how many where and how to put
• The amplifiers can be designed and controlled by the company

5G

• Doesn’t cost as much if there is nice perception already
• Can be controlled from ANYWHERE from the world
• can be more diversly used for other things (anything connected to RC)

Tinywhoops

• “undiscovered” area since it is really new
• can fit basically anywhere
• really precise
• cannot do damage

Specialized drone

• The options are enormous: eg: Waterproof, boat-drone for flood/ heatcamera drones/medical drones…
• good not only to analyze situations, but to replace human resources
• The range and video quality can be way better
• Modularity (infra, heatcam, storage, kv of motors etc.)
• Perhaps cheaper to produce
• Less influenced by external forces'

The website’ welcomes the users with our model city, which was inspired by our current home, Edinburgh’s coastal area. The space and the shape of our model is there to emphasize being part of a bigger picture of Earth conservation. We used Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe Illustrator for our designs.

At this home page, the users can navigate between different icons, which are showed in colour. By clicking on these, our users can access summaries on different ways of using UAV and satellite data for sustainable urban planning.

Our topics are:

• Redirection of traffic to avoid congestion 
• Effective way of finding parking spots 
• Better bus routes 
• Better bike paths 
• Natural disaster monitoring 
• Coastal monitoring 
• Gathering information for search and rescue 
• Fire safety
• Examine existing social conditions 
• Discovering health hazards (radiation, cancer risk) 
• Examine existing environmental conditions 
• Monitoring air quality

Examples of these summaries:

'Planning bus routes

Widening the use of public transport is an essential step for reducing urban pollution. The main strategies for this are making it more accessible through government initiatives by reducing or abolishing ticket costs, education on environment promotion, and minimizing travel times. The wider use of satellite data, and the introduction of UAVs to bus route planning can help promote a decline in travel times, and potentially assist in reducing the cost spent on bus operations through increased time efficiency.'

'Managing traffic and avoiding congestion

Monitoring congestion is already happening through different data sources. These real-time observations can give some idea on traffic conditions, which can be used by drivers to plan out longer routes more effectively. We suggest the use of UAVs for obtaining more accurate and reliable live data, and the optimization of satellite data to build a more effective urban traffic control system. These pieces of information can not only be used for monitoring, but also for preventative purposes especially in extreme weather conditions, and for quicker resolution of congested areas. Building a system around UAV and satellite data, while relying on the use of artificial intelligence, could help minimize traffic congestion in urban areas, which would help avoid the waste of fuel, lessen air pollution and minimize travel times.'

From here users would be able to access more information on these topics if interested, which would include sources and recommended further reading.

'UAVs are suitable to monitor the carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), PM, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations of the air. They are especially helpful in areas which are hard to access. They provide immediate data about air quality (Duangsuwan and Jamjareekulgarn, 2020). However, UAVs are mostly used in smaller, specific areas which could be a limitation if they needed to be used in a greater region. Nevertheless, in such small ranges they are a great solution to monitor air quality and provide detailed data (Alvear et al., 2017).

Satellites, similarly to UAVs, have devices and sensors in them to monitor the quality of air. Among others, many of them are primarily used to measure aerosol particles (Rocheleau, 2021) but of course they monitor a wide range of products (Vijayaraghavan et al., 2008). Satellites are even better at detecting anomalies in air quality than UVAs due to their wide scope (e.g. wildfires in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest which are poorly accessible for any other device) (Engel-Cox et al., 2004). Additionally, likewise UVAs, satellites are also showing the most up to date data. Lastly, as it was mentioned before, satellites are perfect to monitor air quality in larger areas as well, unlike UVAs.

NASA is one of those organisations who took a leading role in monitoring air quality. They operate numerous satellites which collect data about specific components such as aerosols, carbon monoxide and many more (here is a website launched by them about air quality).

To give an example, there is a mission NASA launched which aims to improve human health by mapping air pollution with the use of satellites (Rocheleau, 2021). The MAIMA mission will launch in 2022 and will investigate different types of air pollutant particles and their impact on human health. This initiative is a great way to let professionals know if there are any harmful components in an area which pose a threat to the health of citizens and stop it at their source by creating the right policies and regulations. There have already been several studies on this matter which can be accessed through this link.  

Such data, be that from satellites or UVAs, have the potential to inform public and professional bodies about current trends so that they could take actions and develop policies according to this. With years of collecting these data and using present-day policies and regulations we can forecast how the quality of air will change and how this will impact the climate and the health of people, to name a few. Also, the biggest advantage these devices can provide, is that they can detect the source of the pollution, so the problems can be solved from the roots, unlike previous tools which ‘“just” measured the quality of air in a ground level (Engel-Cox et al., 2004). Finally, to achieve the goal of creating a less polluted environment in urban regions, a wide collaboration is needed between local authorities and organisations, so that these data are easier to understand and act upon. '

With our project we are hoping to show governmental bodies, businesses and the public community the potential in the use of UAV and satellite data in urban planning for a sustainable future. We also planned on emphasising the cost effectiveness of investing in these technologies and using them for city development. Furthermore, we wanted to make sure that it is in an accessible format, easy to understand, to promote it to a wider circle of audience, to start a discussion on different ways of helping our cities become more sustainable.

NASA Past Projects: Civil UAV - Earth Observations and the Role of UAVs

The Team used the assessments, data and mission plans of this NASA past project in order to gain further understanding into the capabilities and possible uses of UAVs. It inspired us to focus on sustainability and improving living standards in terms of urban planning with the help of UAV data. 

Dynamic Coast project

The Dynamic Coast projects showed us how the use of data can help provide evidence for decision-makers to take steps into tackling environmental problems, while also highlighting where further research is needed. The project’s recommendation of the essentiality to improve the quality and frequency of data inspired us to investigate how using and optimizing UAV and satellite data could help coastal monitoring. The research also demonstrated the importance of providing accessible information, that can help promote understanding for governmental bodies, businesses and the public. 

Scottish Remote Sensing Portal - The Scottish Public Sector LiDAR dataset

This dataset of LiDar information in Scottish flood risk management led us to look into the different sensing methods when it comes to managing potential risks.

 NASA Earth Data – Air Quality

Helped us understand how satellite data is used to monitor air quality. 

NASA Climate Global Change - Getting to the Heart of the (Particulate) Matter

Used as evidence of the importance of air quality monitoring.

How would we describe the project and what we learned:

The project was an intense experiment, where we had the chance to develop our skills and get involved in something entirely different and new.

We had the chance to work on our time-management skills, as we struggled with the time restraint, learn to adapt, work as a team, practice the interpretation of data sets, use our research and technical skills.

What was the inspiration:

We were inspired to take part as we embraced the idea of the adventure of a hackathon, while learning how to contribute to a better future. We wanted to try out something new and to try ourselves out in a different setting, while developing useful skills, and being part of something bigger than us.

Our approach:

We developed and designed a plan, then we distributed the tasks between our team members (according to our skills and interests).

From time to time, we stopped and re-evaluated our work and if it was needed we improved it.

Limiting factors we faced during the project:

• Timeframe: we had to create the right time schedule and balance work with rest.
• Online communication: we had to communicate through the internet, so we used different platforms for collaboration.

• Adobe PhotoShop 2021
• Adobe Illustrator 2021
• NASA Past Projects: Civil UAV - Earth Observations and the Role of UAVs: Civil UAV | NASA
•  Al-Turjman, F. (2020) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Smart Cities edited by Fadi Al-Turjman. 1st ed. 2020. [Online]. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
• Alvear, O., Zema, N. R., Natalizio, E. and Calafate, C. T. (2017) ‘Using UAV-Based Systems to Monitor Air Pollution in Areas with Poor Accessibility.’ Journal of Advanced Transportation, 2017 pp. 1–14.
• Buis, A. (2020) ‘Getting to the Heart of the (Particulate) Matter.’ Global Climate Change. 21st October. [Online] https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3027/getting-to-the-heart-of-the-particulate-matter/.
• Duangsuwan, S. and Jamjareekulgarn, P. (2020) ‘Development of Drone Real-time Air Pollution Monitoring for Mobile Smart Sensing in Areas with Poor Accessibility.’ Sensors and Materials, 32(2) p. 511.
• Earth Data (2021) ‘Air Quality.’ Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program. 24th September. [Online] https://earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/near-real-time/hazards-and-disasters/air-quality.
• Engel-Cox, J. A., Hoff, R. M. and Haymet, A. D. J. (2004) ‘Recommendations on the Use of Satellite Remote-Sensing Data for Urban Air Quality.’ Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 54(11) pp. 1360–1371.
• Rocheleau, J. (2021) ‘Using Satellite Data to Map Air Pollution and Improve Health.’ Eos Science News by AGU. 15th April. [Online] https://eos.org/articles/using-satellite-data-to-map-air-pollution-and-improve-health.
• Vijayaraghavan, K., Snell, H. E. and Seigneur, C. (2008) ‘Practical Aspects of Using Satellite Data in Air Quality Modeling.’ Environmental Science & Technology, 42(22) pp. 8187–8192.
• Salvo, G., Caruso, L. and Scordo, A., 2014. Urban Traffic Analysis through an UAV. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 111, pp.1083-1091.
• Dynamic Coast Project: https://www.crew.ac.uk/dynamic-coast
• Scottish Remote Sensing Portal - The Scottish Public Sector LiDAR dataset: https://remotesensingdata.gov.scot/data#/list

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.