Strapping a NIR Camera onto the Inspire 1

I finally went and did it...strapped my near-infrared camera (NIR) onto our DJI Inspire 1. Here are some of the results from this quick test flight.

For those unfamiliar with NIR imaging, in Geography we primarily use the near-infrared portion of the spectrum to help us measure a multitude of things just beyond the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Some of the primary uses for NIR imaging are to measure vegetation types, vegetation health, and help differentiate different landuse/landcover types. Here's a NASA link to more information on NIR and another on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (results below).

Maiden flight of our new UAV

A quick video of the maiden flight of our new DJI Inspire 1 quadcopter. We (the Dartmouth fluvial research group) will be using it this summer to do aerial surveys of several rivers throughout New England to look at dam removals, storm damage/recovery, and I'm sure much more.