HOW DRONES MAPPED HURRICANE DEVASTATED DOMINICA

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HOW DRONES MAPPED HURRICANE DEVASTATED DOMINICA
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• Natural disasters have been all over the news
  this past decade or two, and whether the ways in
  which such events are reported has made us all
  feel as if they are becoming more commonplace,
  damage to the environment and climate change are
  factors that are steadily causing more
  unpredictable weather patterns globally.
• When hurricane Maria struck the island of
  Dominica back in September 17, it was the latest
  in a string of storms to hit the region. With
  maximum sustained winds of up to 160 miles per
  hour, the island was battered and bruised almost
  beyond recognition, with homes and businesses
  destroyed, not to mention human lives.

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• After the event, teams of researchers and
  scientists were called in to help coordinate
  relief efforts and provide insights into how best
  to support disaster recovery in the future.
  Maryland pilots joined by a Canadian relief
  organisation, joined forces to create a crew with
  a project named Trinity, to help create
  high-resolution digital maps of Dominica, and a
  prototype tiltrotor drone was used. Two flight
  engineers who worked on The Osprey drones
  developed the tiltrotor drone, Photuris, and
  became part of the Trinity crew.

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• What challenges did Team Trinity face when
  mapping the hurricane devastated area?
• One of the biggest challenges to overcome was
  that of the terrain, with the 290 square mile
  island having precious little in the way of flat
  ground, and mountains that are as high as 4,747
  feet. Topographic maps had given the team some
  insight into the terrain before they arrived on
  the island, but most said that nothing had quite
  prepared them for the deep, narrow valleys and
  jagged peaks that littered the landscape.

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• Weather conditions also posed a challenge, and
  with no access to live weather radar data, the
  challenge soon became a significant one.
  Generators that were powering cell towers across
  the island aided the team by providing them with
  good cellular network availability, the gap in
  weather data saw them forced to return to less
  modern methods. For example, spotters helped keep
  the pilots up to date on weather conditions, and
  with tropical storms coming and going quickly,
  they had to make some speedy decisions.

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• The future of drones in the wake of hurricanes
• With drone technology continually being developed
  and improved upon, its clear that they will
  continue to be of use in the wake of storms for
  mapping land and aiding relief efforts.
  Helicopters are clumsy and costly, and of course
  require a human pilot. Drones are lightweight,
  compact and can be flown remotely, meaning less
  risk of life to a pilot and the ability to reach
  terrain that would otherwise be out of bounds for
  helicopters.

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• The data capturing and processing part of this
  mission went well, and those involved continue to
  work with industry, other non-profit groups and
  global governments to refine and perfect the
  process of capturing data and getting it to the
  right people in the wake of natural disasters.
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