DEC’s drone programme takes off
The agency has deployed a fleet of 22 unmanned aerial vehicles.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos recently today that the agency has deployed a fleet of 22 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across the US state to enhance the state's environmental management, conservation and emergency response efforts including search and rescue taskings.
Commissioner Seggos said: “DEC has a wide range of responsibilities in protecting the state’s environment and ensuring the safety of our citizens and visitors, and well-being of our communities. The use of drone technology will help us do our jobs better and faster while saving taxpayer dollars. We live in a changing world with technological advances being made at an exponential rate, and UAVs give us a safe and efficient way to collect and analyse data, assess threats to the environment, and quickly respond to emergencies. This technology is helping DEC with everything from petroleum spills and wildlife surveys to search and rescue missions, forest fires, and natural disasters.”
DEC said it developed its UAV programme with guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which granted a Certificate of Authorization authorising use of UAVs within national airspace. Fourteen DEC pilots trained for several months under the guidance of the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) team at FAA’s UAS test site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome with staff from SkyOp, a private UAS training company.
The drones are equipped with both standard and thermal infrared cameras and can legally fly at heights below 400 ft. Each drone is operated by a human pilot that can control the vehicle with a remote control from the ground and at a distances of up to three miles. The majority of DEC’s drones will be piloted by UAS-certified Forest Rangers and Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs).
DEC said it has already deployed drones in a number of successful mission, including sending two UAVs to Texas to help aid in Hurricane Harvey disaster response. The drones were used as part of the search-and-rescue effort to locate persons, significantly reducing the hazard for responders and improving response time.