Active earth observation from unmanned aerial system

Earth observation may also be carried by low altitude photo acquisition using flying vehicles. The unmanned aerial system (UAS) includes unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), flight operation and control, payloads for image acquisition, and communication for data downlink. This paper presents a UAS implementation project using high resolution camera set to capture earth images in remote operation. The high resolution camera set includes a wide angle camera and a twin camera. The fast pan-tilt mechanics turns the mirror by switching twin cameras to perform a 25 times zoom-in. The adopted UAV is remotely operated or autopilot to the targets. The earth observation is implemented from low altitude UAV flights by setting target waypoints. The proposed UAS is applied in disaster surveillance before rescue force is evolved.