Because I was interested in drone applications in journalism, a colleague of mine pointed out this Google group. I thought it would be good to get the ball rolling.
For starters, I think it would be good to ask what use drones could have in journalism. A good case study is the damage survey done after the Joplin, MO tornado (http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/05/02/news- severe-weather-5a-10/).
There's a lot of potential for drones to survey damage. And perhaps one of the most useful purposes of a drone could be in a watchdog role in "hot zones," where journalists can't tread for fear of life and limb, but still the need to document violations of human rights is terribly important. But I think a drone also needs to be more than simply a platform for a camera. So applications beyond simple footage would be very important.
Some more advanced ideas I've been thinking about includes air and/or water sampling (following man-made and natural disasters, such as nuclear power plant explosions, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, dust storms, and large-scale industrial emissions and industrial chemical spills). Journalists could relay the data to scientists and other experts for them to examine and comment on. Additionally, drones can scan an area and provide topographical information, which has ramifications for urban/suburban/rural development, city planning, natural resource management, environmental stewardship, and industrial impact on the environment.
Does anyone have other applications in mind?
Best,
Matthew Schroyer
Social Network Analyst for the National Science Foundation Data Journalist, MentalMunition.com, IJEC.org, CU-CitizenAccess.org M.S.J., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011.
> Because I was interested in drone applications in journalism, a > colleague of mine pointed out this Google group. I thought it would be > good to get the ball rolling.
> For starters, I think it would be good to ask what use drones could > have in journalism. A good case study is the damage survey done after > the Joplin, MO tornado (http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/05/02/news- > severe-weather-5a-10/).
> There's a lot of potential for drones to survey damage. And perhaps > one of the most useful purposes of a drone could be in a watchdog role > in "hot zones," where journalists can't tread for fear of life and > limb, but still the need to document violations of human rights is > terribly important. But I think a drone also needs to be more than > simply a platform for a camera. So applications beyond simple footage > would be very important.
> Some more advanced ideas I've been thinking about includes air and/or > water sampling (following man-made and natural disasters, such as > nuclear power plant explosions, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, dust > storms, and large-scale industrial emissions and industrial chemical > spills). Journalists could relay the data to scientists and other > experts for them to examine and comment on. Additionally, drones can > scan an area and provide topographical information, which has > ramifications for urban/suburban/rural development, city planning, > natural resource management, environmental stewardship, and industrial > impact on the environment.
> Does anyone have other applications in mind?
> Best,
> Matthew Schroyer
> Social Network Analyst for the National Science Foundation > Data Journalist, MentalMunition.com, IJEC.org, CU-CitizenAccess.org > M.S.J., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011.
Journalists will likely apply current technology to new purposes: Fixed wing and VTOL drones/UAVs of varying sophistication are used in civil and scientific roles already,
Agricultural( fence patrolling, herd supervision, pasture survey) Geosciences.. (you name it, theyre doing it already)
Scientifically in addition to taking/retrieving samples I see uavs working in roles of isolated or networked wireless sensor emplacement, polling, (think ASW sonobuoy model) using zigbee ieee 802.15.4 low power PAN radios as beacons/transmitters.
sensors can incorporate varying instrument packages using microfluidic/lab on chip technology.
I work with our county emergency management agency on search and rescue and disaster response efforts. We're actively researching the application of UAV's to damage surveys. We've not even started on policy, but a policy option to consider would be sharing EMA drone imagery with the press. I suggest this as the FAA will likely drastically limit UAV activity over a disaster site as UAV flights cannot currently coexist with manned aircraft, and likely will not be able to do so for many years.
There are many more opportunities to apply UAVs outside of the US.
