Mapping jungle

[JaguarMapper]

I am looking to buy a system to map dense forest in Panama for a conservation project. Have flown phantom and Mavic Air before. Where can I read up and learn? Phantom 4 pro with mapping software seems to be one option.

 

[AMann]

I am looking to buy a system to map dense forest in Panama for a conservation project. Have flown phantom and Mavic Air before. Where can I read up and learn? Phantom 4 pro with mapping software seems to be one option.

Are you doing vegetation surveys for jaguar habitat? Check out Mapir.com

I am starting a similar project for mapping desert riparian habitat. I think in your situation though, you will need a bigger drone like a Inspire with more capabilities like a true multispectral camera or even Lidar, etc., it depends in what you are mapping or measuring. Are you going for simple canopy cover estimates? A basic OC-NIR camera and a Mavic like the Mapir3 uses that www.mapir.camera sells may be good for they differentiate soil from foliage, but if you are measuring canopy height and density, I’d think you would need more drone capabilities to maybe even carry a Lidar, and you will probably need some more funding, too.

Have you secured funding, or considered a www.gofundme.com type of campaign, too? There are lots of good conservation based financing opportunities if you are doing the project for an educational or non profit research project.

And watch out for Harpy nests!

 

[JaguarMapper]

Are you doing vegetation surveys for jaguar habitat? Check out Mapir.com

I am starting a similar project for mapping desert riparian habitat. I think in your situation though, you will need a bigger drone like a Inspire with more capabilities like a true multispectral camera or even Lidar, etc., it depends in what you are mapping or measuring. Are you going for simple canopy cover estimates? A basic NIR RGB camera like the Mapir3 that Mapir.com sells may be good for they differentiate soil from foliage, but if you are measuring canopy height and density, I’d think you would need more capabilities like maybe even Lidar and some funding, too.

Have you secured funding, or considered a Go Fund Me campaign, too? There are lots of good conservation based financing opportunities if you are doing the project for an educational or non profit research project.

And watch out for Harpy nests!

Thanks! But I cannot find the mapir.com website

I will do vegetation mapping forher on, but right now something simpler will do to stop the illegal jaguar hunters. Some private land owners will help us keep illegal hunting out of their thickly forested land if we can mark the limits of their land. So the first step is to mark out a known polygone from one known point in the jungle. I think a drone package with the right software for under USD2000 could do that.

The hunters come in and cut down trees and burn to establish dominium. Then they hunt at night with dogs and flashlights. The tree the cats and shoot them. Many forest owners cannot defend their forest since they are too far away. Marking the protected areas is the first step. Thus mapping from the air. Next step will be to map interesting trees, waterfalls etc.

Best regards,
Henrik, Panama

 

[Keule]

But I cannot find the mapir.com website

It's actually Mapir

 

[AMann]

Sorry wrong URL- I re-edited my post- refresh and look at it there.

 

[AMann]

You need a FLIR thermal cam- it will see people and even mammals by their heat index through the canopy, and will let you see to fly at night.

 

[Keule]

help us keep illegal hunting out of their thickly forested land if we can mark the limits of their land

So this could be a surveilance and mapping project ...
different cameras/sensors might be required. (FLIR, NDVI sensors, LiDAR and more)

As this is more an industrial use than a cinematogaphic i would recommend to look into M200 series of drones.
They can easy carry different payloads one at a time depending on use.

But they come at a price...

 

[AMann]

Henrik, Keule is right. The FLIR camera and a better capability drone is exactly what you will need for a surveillance projct, especially through the jungle canopy.

Many of the cameras mentioned, even the simple Mapir one, really eat batteries on smaller drones and you will be wasting a lot of time changing batteries and will only get a very short flight range and time with them.

Don’t get discouraged though, because charismatic megafauna preservation projects like yours can easily get the funding you need for the right equipment recommended by Keule.

Print a nice jaguar preservation project poster, make a short video about the project and your needs, offer the poster and some jaguar kitten photos or plushy toys to sponsors, post it on www.gofundme.com, and you will get more than enough funds. It sounds like a very worthwhile project, so good luck!

 

[AMann]

Henrik, you need a model like this:
FLIR Vue Pro R - https://www.adorama.com/fl4360021s....QGg7zKz6dG50iwtiN9IYv7DcooNPzd8RoC4wMQAvD_BwE

Although you probably will need to do a lot of paperwork to import it, we can buy thermal image cameras and night vision scopes in the US, but we can’t export them or bring them out of the country without a permit- I did bat research and needed one to bring night vision goggles to Mexico. It was a hassle to get the permits because we had to show we brought them back into the US when we returned.