White-paper-UAVs-and-agriculture_Final

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“The collection of data is time consuming and weather dependent. To maximise the technology requires the skills, knowledge and equipment to implement the task after the data has been collected and analysed. For example, it is great to have a geo-referenced weed map, but is entirely useless if there is no means to use the data.” Andrew Williamson – Farmer and Nuffield Scholar “The technology [hardware and software] works well; the barrier is in realising an economic benefit [increased yield and/or decreased costs] from the information produced by the UAV. Most potential adopters would like to see examples of how margins have improved before investing in these technologies or services.” Dr Eric Ober – Senior Research Scientist and Crop Physiologist, NIAB Given the focus on the technology, UAVs are often viewed as a ‘technology push’; delivering ‘picture agriculture’ rather than a tool meeting user needs and requirements. It is therefore critical for both the UAV and agricultural sectors to work together alongside the Government Pathfinders to prove the economic and agronomic benefits that UAVs can bring to precision farming, as opening up UK airspace alone will not increase uptake. Figure 1 – The critical areas that need to be addressed to ensure that UAV technologies can be used appropriately and in combination with other data sources to deliver actionable intelligence with clear economic and agronomic justification. Within our Sustainable Living Programme, the Catapult is exploring how we can help support the exploitation of UAV technologies for the benefit of the UK economy. Focusing on areas such as agriculture, we are collaborating and engaging across the breadth of the agricultural sector – and technology sectors associated with UAVs – to develop and exploit these technologies alongside other data sources, such as satellites, to ensure that timely and affordable state-of-the-crop intelligence can be delivered to farmers and growers. In this White Paper: UAVs for UK Agriculture Page 3
white paper we will focus on how the enablers across the four areas identified in Figure 1 can be exploited to meet this aim. 2. Opening up UK Airspace – UK Government UAV Pathfinders Through its UAV Pathfinder Programme, the UK Government is currently exploring how to create an environment and enabling infrastructure (legal and regulatory framework and policy) in the UK for UAV technologies by 2020 that will: drive growth in the private drone sector (users, manufacturers, services). facilitate public sector adoption (increasing efficiency and capability). provide reassurance on societal concerns (safety, security, privacy, data protection). These Pathfinders are designed to take us from where we are in 2016, both in terms of technology and regulation, to a situation where industry can exploit the market across a range of sectors including agriculture. A number of Pathfinders have been established that focus on package delivery, agriculture/geo-mapping and utilities inspection, and these will address how opening up UK airspace will enable UAV exploitation. 2.1 Requirement for Airspace Change Non-hobbyist users of UAV technologies for commercial revenue generation across the UK perceive that commercial exploitation is being stifled due to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) operational regulations for commercial operation. These guidelines are based on platform size and weight, as indicated in Figure 2. Small unmanned aircraft (weighing less than 20kg) are widely available for commercial and recreational use and are subject to safety rules, which are underpinned by UK law. Some specific additional steps that must be taken if a drone is being flown for ‘aerial work’ and anyone using a small drone needs to be aware of the regulations contained in the Air Navigation Order 3 . Unlike small drones, UAVs with an operating mass of more than 20kg are subject to full UK Aviation regulation (as listed within the UK Air Navigation Order), although they may be exempted from certain requirements by the CAA. UAVs with a mass of more than 150kg are also subject to additional certification requirements as determined by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). These larger drones are not currently permitted to fly in any nonsegregated airspace in the UK without specific permission from the CAA, although they can be tested at a number of locations where airspace has been segregated to exclude other airspace users. 3 https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP%20393%20Fourth%20edition%20Amendment%201%20A pril%20 2015.pdf White Paper: UAVs for UK Agriculture Page 4
Page 2 and 3: “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Page 6 and 7: UAV platform Maximum category mass
Page 8 and 9: 3. Understanding the Current UK Lan
Page 10 and 11: These early commercial offerings we
Page 12 and 13: Tractor-mounted sensing systems, su
Page 14 and 15: Figure 8 provides an overview of th
Page 16 and 17: Table 1 - Different sensor technolo
Page 18 and 19: intelligence with clear economic an
Page 20 and 21: satellite systems for airborne plat
Page 22 and 23: Given that UAV platforms are essent
Page 24 and 25: live streaming data through 4G or 5
Page 26 and 27: 4.2.6 Drones & the Internet of Thin
Page 28 and 29: Understanding how UAV-derived data
Page 30 and 31: 4.4.1 Capacity building and trainin
Page 32 and 33: technologies can be exploited corre
Page 34 and 35: UAV expertise and capability - The
Page 36: White Paper: UAVs for UK Agricultur

White-paper-UAVs-and-agriculture_Final

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