Over the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to as drones, have increased significantly in popularity within a variety of sectors. Whether you are working as surveying engineer, farmer, or why not an urban planner, drones have provided brand new ways to perform your work, facilitating the daily lives of people and businesses all over the world.
One of the domains in which the use of drones is expanding substantially is the forestry sector. In this blog post, we describe 5 important application areas where drones serve as a useful, even revolutionary, tool for the forest industry.
1. Improve forest management planningA forest management plan specifies the objectives that a landowner has for his or her land, followed by a series of actions that should be taken in order to for those objectives to be met. In addition, these plans also contain information about factors such as acreage, boundaries, forest stands, wood species, and biological inventory. UAV technology is very useful as a tool in the production of these plans. The forest planner saves a lot of time and also, the quality of the plans can be substantially increased.
2. Document actionsAs mentioned in the previous section, drone technology can be of great help when it comes to documenting actions, both those that have already been taken, but also those that the forest planner recommends should take place. For example, the data captured by the drone can provide information about the potential need for cleaning or thinning; It can map windfalls after a storm, reducing the costs for recovering the fallen timber. It can also document driving damages after and corrective actions can be taken.  
3. Detect and manage pests and diseasesPests and diseases can be a big danger to the survival of forests. The good news is that by using drone technology, it is possible to detect outbreaks in an early stage, so that corrective actions can be taken immediately. Also, with this knowledge at hand, the landowners can take preventive actions in order to protect their forests against future infestations. In these situations, it is advantageous to equip your drone with a multispectral camera, which we talk more about in this blog post about precision agriculture utilizing UAVs.
4. Manage and prevent forest firesAnother important drone application area in forestry, where drones can even save human lives, is handling forest fires. The drones can for example help the firemen to keep track of fire fronts and identify the location and intensity of hotspots, helping the decision makers direct the firefighting activities. After the fire, using drones is a very efficient way to find hotspots that might cause the wildfire to rekindle. You can read more about forest fire control using drones in one of our previous blog posts.
5. Manage large scale forest plantationsFinally, drone technology has become an increasingly popular tool when it comes to assessing and managing forest plantations. The drones can provide the owner with information about vital factors such as volume, tree height, as well as the overall condition of the plantation.
Opening up for new possibilities for the futureUsing drones in forestry applications undoubtedly implies a number of advantages, such as time and cost savings as well as increased operational efficiency. Although the use of drones in forestry may still be in an early stage, the technology definitely has great potential in the near future.

Source: http://smartplanes.com/5-examples-of-how-drones-can-be-used-in-forestry-applications/

Drones on golf courses have many terrific uses including helping to market and maintain the course.  Creating professional golf course drone videos is an exceptional way to increase memberships.
Drones can also survey a golf course to assist in the planning and maintenance of the golf course to a high standard.
This article along with terrific videos will show you the full range of benefits, which drones provide in the promotion and maintenance of a golf course.
Over the coming years, you will see how Golf Course Owners, Green Keepers and Maintenance Teams will view the drone as a very important tool for the marketing and upkeep of their golf course.
Golf Course Drone VideosGolf Course Marketing Using Drones Golf courses are beautiful.  However, it is not always easy to show the overall beauty of a golf course using just ground videos.  With the latest affordable quality drones, a Golf Course Marketing team can now easily capture the immense beauty of the golf course, its clubhouse and the surrounding countryside to really promote and increase memberships.
Drones Produce Quality Film: All of the latest drones come with 4k cameras and have top of the range six axis stabilization technology so it is pretty easy to film top quality aerial video.  To get an idea of the quality from the latest drones, please see the below drone golf course videos.
Drones Are Affordable: Drones are very cost effective when compared to renting a helicopter and film crew which can cost thousands of dollars.  Prices for professional quality filming drones range from around USD 900 upwards.
Even the smallest golf course can afford a drone and use one regularly to film across the 4 seasons. Playing golf in the fall is an awesome feeling.  Also, new videos can be produced each year to show how a golf course is maturing.
Interactive Hole By Hole Aerial Video:  A virtual tour can help in promoting a golf course. It can also assist with retention of memberships by assisting existing members to improve their game by understanding the golf course better.
Being able to study each hole using interactive golf videos will help improve a players game. It will allow them to read each hole and make better club selection. This will ultimately bring down their golf handicap.  Which is what every golfer wants.
Using Drones For Golf Course MaintenanceThe most scenic of golf courses will have a wide variety of flowers, fauna, shrubs and trees.  The health of these plants and vegetation is very important to the beauty of the course.
Being able to prevent pest infestation and disease is vital to the health of a golf course.
Early morning golf course flyovers will allow maintenance teams to survey and evaluate all aspects of the golf course and get a full picture quickly before the golf course opens for play.
This allows maintenance teams to respond quickly if their are any aspects around the course which require urgent attention.
Here are just some of the benefits from using drone aerial videos by Golf Course Green Keepers and Maintenance Teams:

• Quick overview from a height of the golf course to see if there is anything major problems
• Survey for damaged trees, fencing and buildings after strong winds
• Check fairways and greens especially after heavy rain to see if the course is now playable. Send maintenance personnel directly to where issue are
• Monitor the golf course to see if there is any unusual activity or illegal playing

Golf Course Photogrammetry MapsAlong with aerial videos, drones such as the latest DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, the Mavic Pro fold up drone or the DJI Phantom 4 Pro can capture photogrammetry images of the golf course in 4k quality. The DJI Inspire 2 with Zenmuse X7 camera can capture superb 6k quality film.
The photogrammetry images are captured using the camera which is mounted on the drone.  The drone then flies using autonomous waypoints of the golf course, taking photos every 0.5 or 1 second intervals.
This generated hundred of photos of the golf course.  Then specialized photogrammetry software is used to stitch the many hundreds or even thousands of photos together to create the 3D Maps of the golf course.
This can be particularly useful if the golf course is having persistent problems with flooding in one area. Photogrammetry maps are also terrific if the golf course is expanding and for major landscape projects.

• DEM / DTM / DSM (surface models)
• Orthophoto’s (geospatially corrected aerial images)
• 3D Building Models
• Contour Maps
• Volumetric Surveys

Here is a terrific article which explains everything regarding Photogrammetry and Lidar sensor technology.
Drones In Golf Course ConstructionGolf course design and construction very much depend on the topography of the land area. Designing a golf course is a massive project and require very large budgets.
As mentioned above, Golf Architects and Project Managers can use drones to assist in the surveying of the land mass to assist with design by creating 3D Photogrammetry imagery and LiDar maps.
When construction starts, the aerial film from the drone will be essential to monitor the progress of the project.
A daily flyover will show the progress of landscaping, the development of water sources,  surveying the build of the clubhouse and parking etc. When the seeding takes place, it will also be very easy to view the golf course and check for patches in the seeding.
Multispectral Data For A Healthy Golf CourseUsing a drone with multispectral sensors will also assist greatly in golf course construction and maintenance through providing vital data on irrigation along with the health of grass, flowers, shrubbery and trees.
Drone Golf Course VideosThe following are some terrific videos of very scenic golf courses taken by drones.
We start off with an absolutely stunning video of very scenic Killarney Golf Club in the South West of Ireland.  This is followed by a showreel of some of the finest golf courses across the UK including St Andrews.
There is also an example of a clickable interactive hole by hole golf course video below.  Another video is surveying the construction of a new golf course.  Enjoy these drone golf course videos.
Killarney Golf Club Drone VideoMore than just a Golf Course, the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club in County Kerry, Ireland is surrounded by some of the most stunningly wild and magnificently rugged countryside.
This spectacular lakeside location is next to the Killarney National Park and is part of the Ring of Kerry.  The Killarney Golf Course has held the Irish Open on 4 different occasions in the past.  Just fantastic. Enjoy.

Source: https://www.dronezon.com/drones-for-good/drones-for-golf-course-marketing-maintenance-and-construction/

Lower costs:Greater competition and advances in technology that makes it easier to operate a drone have driven down costs. There are online services to hire pilots throughout North America. And more professional photographers are offering drone footage as part of their listing photo services.


The “wow” factor is still a factor:Drone footage is still novel enough that you can “wow” sellers when you show them a neighborhood aerial footage during a listing presentation. It has nearly the same impact as a 3D-video tour, like Matterport. For agents in many markets, offering drone marketing can still be a competitive differentiator.


It helps you sell homes:Not every property can benefit from drone marketing, but those that can, do. Video is a very powerful tool for marketing. Drone video footage can provide dramatic views of the entire property, increase video traffic and video sharing, provide spatial perspective, property’s setting, show the proximity to key local amenities (water – playgrounds – parks – schools) and nearby services (stores – hospitals), let the viewer see the entire neighborhood from a whole new perspective, and create an emotional connection.

Researchers from the Vancouver Aquarium and the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have begun using drones to keep tabs on endangered killer whales off the west coast of the continent. The technology is giving the researchers a fresh perspective on the well-being of the animals, and provides yet another example of how UAVs are giving rise to new means of conservation.
Armed with a custom-built marine hexacopter, the researchers were able to monitor the status of the protected Northern Resident killer whales and the endangered Southern Resident species.
The drone tracked the whales from an altitude of 100 ft (30 m), a distance that puts it out of the whale's earshot, and collected 30,000 photographs across 60 separate flights. While the scientists are still in the process of poring over this wealth of data, they are already beginning to see the benefits of their new approach.
"The hexacopter gives us a more sensitive metric of the whales’ condition than we’ve previously had,” says Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, Senior Marine Mammal Scientist at Vancouver Aquarium. “Killer whales can buffer short-term lack of food by living on their blubber, and substituting water into their blubber layer, so they camouflage it when they are in poor condition. From above, we can observe and assess their girth, and know much earlier when they are in trouble."
Other early observations include a number of pregnancies which would have otherwise gone undetected, and the identification of whales with unhealthy body conditions. The team says that the findings and assessments that follow will help determine the management of both populations.
The project marks the first time a hexacopter has been used in whale research, but follows in the footsteps of other drone-inspired conservation efforts around the globe – from preserving ailing rhino populations in Africa to hunting down invasive weeds in Australia and curtailing the illegal fishing degrading Belize's reef systems.
"Photogrammetry using a hexacopter is an important new tool," says Barrett-Lennard. "It’s going to change the way we do field research on whales."
You can get a drone's eye view of the killer whales in the Vancouver Aquarium video below.
Source: Vancouver Aquarium