UAS are well-suited to the needs of tree and landscape monitoring and maintenance. The individual industries outlined above are in various stages of UAS implementation, and pilots and data analysis are needed. Pilots have an opportunity to both introduce and guide the spread of UAS by pioneering flight and introducing new perspectives and techniques to these specialized industries.
Flying near trees is an important barrier for some tree care companies to operate their own UAS, so pilots will likely always be needed for visual flight missions and near-future urban spray operations. Industries maintaining turfgrass will realize significant water and money savings with UAS flights, creating a nice niche for pilots with IR-NIR sensors and people skills. Industries maintaining large landscapes need pilots because companies in this sector often have high staff turnover, therefore training staff may not be cost-effective.
Pilots looking to market to these industries may want to network at ‘green industry’ events held or attended by Associations of Landscape Contractors, Landscape Architects, or Associations of Landscape Professionals. Contact school boards to demonstrate how UAS can help school fields in your area. Arborists are associated with several industry associations such as the Tree Care Industry or International Society of Arboriculture, and understand the value of UAS.
Opportunities await - how will you take the first step into these burgeoning industries and integrate the insights gained from the construction, precision agriculture and Real Estate disciplines into this new area of practice?
Dan Staley is Principal of Analemma Resources, LLC, a green infrastructure consultancy in Aurora, Colorado, USA. His undergraduate education was in urban forestry and graduate education in urban planning, specializing in urban ecology. He works together with his daughter on his piloting skills in his spare time. See his applied research at http://danstaley.net/