Field Outings

For our outing, we were to map a section of McCormick Woods. Dr. Hupy, Ryan Ferguson and Evan Hockridge were ground station, while the rest of the class were assigned as visual observers. For this mission our class was to gather data on the different colors and species of trees. The main focus was to see if it is plausible to classify trees based on their colors, during the fall season. The Yuneec platform was used to gather data at 62 meters. This is an ongoing process and data is gathered every Tuesday. Since the forest is large enough to lose visual sight of the aircraft, we split up into three groups. Two observer groups and flight control group were the assigned groups. Each group was assigned a radio, when the the group had visual contact they would report it to flight control. When contact was lost it would also be reported. The three groups would rotate around the forest after each flight to get all the required data of the forest. Communication was brief but professional to ensure that line of sight was constant.