New profession, now on the job⑧｜They fly more than 30,000 kilometers every year, making drones the "eyes in the sky"
2024-08-18
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In August, Chongqing is scorching hot, and people are reluctant to stay outdoors for a long time. But for Liu Zhaohui and his colleagues, this is the best season to fly drones - there is plenty of light, few clouds, and high visibility and transparency.
As the name suggests, drones are unmanned aircraft. Common small drones can be used as "flying cameras", and large and medium-sized drones can be used for police, urban management, agriculture, geology, meteorology, electricity, disaster relief, etc.
The person who directs drones to complete various tasks is a drone operator. According to data released by the State Council Information Office in July this year, the number of people in my country who hold drone operator licenses has exceeded 225,000.
Liu Zhaohui, a drone operator at Chongqing Geographic Information and Remote Sensing Application Center, is one of them. He has been flying drones for nearly 10 years and has to fly more than 30,000 kilometers with drones every year on average.
▲ On August 7, Liu Zhaohui reads the surveying data of a drone in the wild. Photo provided by the interviewee
Under the scorching sun, commanding the "big guy" to soar into the sky
Not long ago, Liu Zhaohui and his colleagues drove to Xikou Town, Xiushan County, with two professional mapping drones. They wanted to collect real-life 3D data here, or in layman's terms, use mapping drones to take a "full-body photo" of Xikou Town.
This "full-body photo" is not easy to take. First, they have to survey the location where the drone will take off and land. The ground needs to be relatively flat, with no high towers or buildings nearby. Secondly, they have to take the drone parts out of the box and assemble them into a fixed-wing drone with a wingspan of 4 meters. Then, they have to use a computer to plan the drone's route on the ground and adjust the flight parameters.
Next, they installed batteries on the drone, checked the camera and other equipment and the flight attitude, and uploaded the route to the flight control. At this point, if everything is normal, the drone will slowly take off and fly for 2-3 hours according to the planned route to take surveying images.
During this period, Liu Zhaohui and his colleagues have to stay by the computer and pay attention to the flight status of the drone. After the drone lands safely, they have to download the images and data taken by the drone to the computer, disassemble the drone, and transport it to the next work point. The whole work process often takes 4-5 hours, and it is the hottest time of the day in summer.
Aerial surveying and mapping provides a three-dimensional foundation for the construction of digital Chongqing
"The weather is indeed hot, but we've gotten used to it." Liu Zhaohui said that the take-off and landing points of surveying and mapping drones are often in the mountains and wild, and drone operators are not only exposed to the sun, but also have to endure mosquito bites. But for the sake of drone photography, it doesn't matter if they endure a little hardship.
He Zong, director of the Remote Sensing Application Institute of Chongqing Geographic Information and Remote Sensing Application Center, introduced that unlike ordinary drones, the images taken by surveying and mapping drones are extremely accurate and can be used to measure and calculate actual distances.
Therefore, surveying and mapping drones are mainly used for taking orthographic images of the ground surface and real-scene three-dimensional images. They can also be combined with radar for laser point cloud applications to survey and map topography.
The real-life 3D spatiotemporal data is the spatiotemporal foundation for the construction of Digital Chongqing and the basic data for the governance of megacities. Chongqing's digital city 3D foundation is built based on a large number of real-life 3D images. The roads, buildings and even plants and trees in the digital space can all correspond to each other in reality.
At this time, the technical level of the drone operator will directly affect the quality of the image.
For example, when shooting real-life three-dimensional images, the drone will use different tilt angles to shoot, and post-production personnel will stitch together multiple high-definition images from different angles to form a three-dimensional real-life three-dimensional image.
But when shooting, the drone cannot leave its own shadow in the image, which requires the drone operator to choose a good angle and shoot when the sun is in the most ideal position.
▲ A surveying drone flying in the air. Photo provided by the interviewee
Not only that, drone operators also need to deal with various dangerous emergencies. During a survey three years ago, the drone Liu Zhaohui was using suddenly "froze", unable to receive signals and unable to land automatically. He immediately switched to manual mode and commanded the drone to slowly descend from a height of hundreds of meters. At the same time, he observed the drone's flight posture with his naked eyes and constantly adjusted the fuselage angle to ensure a smooth landing process as much as possible.
Finally, after more than half an hour of operation, the "crashed" drone landed safely.
Only by understanding the needs of the industry can you become a good "pilot"
Including Liu Zhaohui, the drone team of the Municipal Geographic Information and Remote Sensing Application Center has a total of 6 drone operators. Since 2015, the cumulative flight mileage of surveying and mapping drones has reached more than 300,000 kilometers, without a single safety accident.
"If you want to become a drone operator, safety and law-abidingness are the bottom line, and understanding industry needs is the key." Liu Zhaohui said that in order to become a drone operator, one must first undergo professional training and examinations, obtain a drone pilot license for the corresponding industry and level issued by an authoritative organization, and master the relevant background knowledge of the industry in which he is engaged.
If young people aspire to become drone operators, they must have an empty cup mentality, learn industry knowledge down-to-earth in specific positions, combine drone control technology with industry needs, and make the "eyes in the sky" play a greater role. For example, drones are used in the city's monitoring and inspection of dangerous rock risks in the Three Gorges, and in the investigation, monitoring and evaluation of natural resources and historical culture.
For example, the Municipal Geographic Information and Remote Sensing Application Center also assumes the function of the Chongqing Emergency Rescue Geographic Information Service Team. As the "eye in the sky", drones can quickly obtain image data before, during and after a disaster, providing strong basic data support for effective on-site rescue, disaster monitoring and post-disaster assessment.
Therefore, every year during the flood season, when geological disasters occur, the drone team will rush to the front line as soon as possible and use drones to collect disaster data to provide first-hand information for emergency command, monitoring and early warning, emergency rescue and recovery and reconstruction.
Since the beginning of this year, the drone team has provided various types of image data for the monitoring and early warning of landslides on the river bank in Gongtan Town, Youyang, and more than 20 pre-disaster remote sensing image thematic maps for 11 affected townships in Dianjiang, Fengdu and Zhongxian during the flood season, providing strong support for local emergency rescue work.
It is reported that under the overall guidance of the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, the Municipal Geographic Information and Remote Sensing Application Center has fully utilized the unique advantages of the drone "Eye in the Sky" in recent years, and has provided data and technical support for emergency response to more than 60 emergencies such as dangerous rock disasters and forest fires in our city.
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