Birds' Eye: Drone surveillance in vineyards
The unique attributes offered by vertical take-off and landing drones are transforming a range of civilian roles, from firefighting to traffic monitoring and now vineyard management.
The potential uses of drones are many and varied, and for vineyards they may well be very useful.
However the high profile media cover of some recent events mean that the industry should proceed with caution, to avoid future regulation that would restrict potential uses.
The rapid and overwhelming introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) technology into everyday life has led to an explosion of potential uses for the technology. There are very real difficulties of managing this explosion in ordinary (civilian) life.
Drones need to be robust and controllable. Roger Clarke (Understanding the Drone Epidemic, 2014) defines the term 'remote pilot' as the individual with skills and responsibilities similar to those of an on-board pilot, and explains to what extent the drone must be controlled. 'Airworthiness' means the drone is capable of safe flight, is fully capable within its 'envelope' i.e. the expectations of its operation. The remote pilot must be aware of the drone's location, must have full control over its flight, and have a sufficient set of controls to cope with atmospheric conditions, direction and speed of movement. In addition the drone itself should have the ability to detect threats, avoid obstacles, and sufficient robustness to withstand wind-shear, turbulence, bird strike and even lightning strikes. It is clear that safe and responsible operation is a serious matter.
Rules for now, applied to the commercial use of drone technology, do not differ much from those for remote controlled recreational planes that have been flown for years by amateurs.
In New Zealand on August 1st 2015 new drone regulations required UAV pilots to secure permission and give notification for the commercial use of UAVs over public or private land, below a height of 400 feet, and during daylight hours and within line of sight of the controller, and not within 4km of an airport.
For use outside these regulations permission must be sought under CAA rule part 102. This means that using drones in vineyards that are not on public land and where the owner has consented, could be a useful tool in the management of vineyards, for precision viticulture, for soil surveys and for scaring birds. Whatever the use, responsible flying should be the rule.
Acknowledgements to Phoenix Vineyard, Hawkes Bay, EIT and Precision Aerial Technology.
