Robots Reduce Cost of Science for USGS
November 07, 2012
The Raven in particular has other advantages over manned missions besides cost. From the report:
The initial USGS mission in March 2011 studied the annual north-south migration of endangered sandhill cranes from Arizona through Colorado to Montana and Wyoming. The cranes fly north in the first part of February and spend much of each spring in Colorado?s San Luis Valley at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. Thermal cameras capturing images of the cranes at roost were used to determine population trends in collaboration with the FWS. ?Because the Raven is small and quiet, it could fly low enough ? 75 feet ? to photograph the birds without disturbing them. Moreover, the mission cost only one-tenth of a conventional airborne survey"