Developing a new integrated unmanned aerial vehicle platform "Quest EarthWater" for assessing hidden blue water supplies

大量隐藏的饮用水储存在半自然景观中，如高地泥炭地、低地草原和河岸栖息地，这些景观没有很好地描述或了解。关于这些景观的信息来源有限，目前可用的卫星数据无法提供详细程度来描述其复杂的格局和过程。该项目将开发一种新的方法来描述包含隐藏水源的景观的空间特征，并揭示其模式和过程的复杂性。这种方法将利用无人驾驶飞行器或“无人机”来部署成像传感器，这些传感器可以捕捉到非常详细的景观照片，从而可以量化隐藏的水资源。在保存水的景观退化的情况下，这种方法将使管理策略有效地有针对性，从而可以改善水的储存，降低长期供水的成本。

A large quantity of hidden potable water is stored in semi-natural landscapes such as upland peatlands, lowland grasslands and riparian habitats that are not well-characterised or understood. There are limited sources of information about these landscapes and currently available satellite data cannot provide the level of detail to describe their complex patterns and processes. This project will develop a new method for spatially characterising landscapes that contain hidden water supplies and reveal the complex nature of their patterns and processes. This method will utilise an unmanned aerial vehicle or "drone" to deploy imaging sensors that can capture very detailed pictures of the landscapes so that the hidden water resources can be quantified. In cases where the landscapes holding the water are degraded, this method will allow management strategies to be effectively targeted so that water storage can be improved and the cost of long term water supplies reduced.