A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments
Tidal energy is a rapidly developing area of the marine renewable energy sector that requires converters to be placed within areas of fast current speeds to be commercially viable. Tidal environments are also utilised by marine fauna (marine mammals, seabirds and fish) for foraging purposes, with us...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/12/2298 |
| _version_ | 1797380469636988928 |
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| author | James Slingsby Beth E. Scott Louise Kregting Jason McIlvenny Jared Wilson Benjamin J. Williamson |
| author_facet | James Slingsby Beth E. Scott Louise Kregting Jason McIlvenny Jared Wilson Benjamin J. Williamson |
| author_sort | James Slingsby |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tidal energy is a rapidly developing area of the marine renewable energy sector that requires converters to be placed within areas of fast current speeds to be commercially viable. Tidal environments are also utilised by marine fauna (marine mammals, seabirds and fish) for foraging purposes, with usage patterns observed at fine spatiotemporal scales (seconds and metres). An overlap between tidal developments and fauna creates uncertainty regarding the environmental impact of converters. Due to the limited number of tidal energy converters in operation, there is inadequate knowledge of marine megafaunal usage of tidal stream environments, especially the collection of fine-scale empirical evidence required to inform on and predict potential environmental effects. This review details the suitability of using multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles within tidal stream environments as a tool for capturing fine-scale biophysical interactions. This includes presenting the advantages and disadvantages of use, highlighting complementary image processing and automation techniques, and showcasing the limited current examples of usage within tidal stream environments. These considerations help to demonstrate the appropriateness of unmanned aerial vehicles, alongside applicable image processing, for use as a survey tool to further quantify the potential environmental impacts of marine renewable energy developments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:37:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4d27ac25e1334f4a88dda1e1c656b259 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:37:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-4d27ac25e1334f4a88dda1e1c656b2592023-12-22T14:18:51ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122023-12-011112229810.3390/jmse11122298A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream EnvironmentsJames Slingsby0Beth E. Scott1Louise Kregting2Jason McIlvenny3Jared Wilson4Benjamin J. Williamson5Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Thurso KW14 7EE, UKSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UKPlant & Food Research, Mt Albert Research Centre, Auckland 1025, New ZealandEnvironmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Thurso KW14 7EE, UKMarine Scotland Science, Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UKEnvironmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Thurso KW14 7EE, UKTidal energy is a rapidly developing area of the marine renewable energy sector that requires converters to be placed within areas of fast current speeds to be commercially viable. Tidal environments are also utilised by marine fauna (marine mammals, seabirds and fish) for foraging purposes, with usage patterns observed at fine spatiotemporal scales (seconds and metres). An overlap between tidal developments and fauna creates uncertainty regarding the environmental impact of converters. Due to the limited number of tidal energy converters in operation, there is inadequate knowledge of marine megafaunal usage of tidal stream environments, especially the collection of fine-scale empirical evidence required to inform on and predict potential environmental effects. This review details the suitability of using multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles within tidal stream environments as a tool for capturing fine-scale biophysical interactions. This includes presenting the advantages and disadvantages of use, highlighting complementary image processing and automation techniques, and showcasing the limited current examples of usage within tidal stream environments. These considerations help to demonstrate the appropriateness of unmanned aerial vehicles, alongside applicable image processing, for use as a survey tool to further quantify the potential environmental impacts of marine renewable energy developments.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/12/2298marine renewable energytidal energyturbulencedronesmarine top predatorsforaging area |
| spellingShingle | James Slingsby Beth E. Scott Louise Kregting Jason McIlvenny Jared Wilson Benjamin J. Williamson A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments Journal of Marine Science and Engineering marine renewable energy tidal energy turbulence drones marine top predators foraging area |
| title | A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments |
| title_full | A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments |
| title_fullStr | A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments |
| title_short | A Review of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Usage as an Environmental Survey Tool within Tidal Stream Environments |
| title_sort | review of unmanned aerial vehicles usage as an environmental survey tool within tidal stream environments |
| topic | marine renewable energy tidal energy turbulence drones marine top predators foraging area |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/12/2298 |
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