AirCTEMPs employs a variety of both off-the-shelf and tailored UAS platforms for remote sensing applications. Listed below is a summary of AirCTEMPs assets. The listing of this information does not represent endorsement or product support by CTEMPs, but rather is designed to serve as an information resource for users. CTEMPs will periodically update and add to this reference material and users are encouraged to contact CTEMPs with suggestions for postings. AirCTEMPs will work with investigators to find solutions that meet their needs. See Instrument Lease Rates for a complete list of available equipment and costs.
Universal Ground Control Station provides AirCTEMPs with the ability to efficiently plan and execute a variety of programmed missions. Image overlap, flight speed, mission altitude, and pixel resolution can all be adjusted to best meet research objectives.
For use with our experimental aircraft that use a Pixhawk flight controller and open hardware such as Pixhawk V2 and Pixhack V3 for increased customized sensor control and RTK.
This aircraft has a payload capacity of 6 kg and can stay in flight for approximately 15 minutes, depending on topographic relief on the project and atmospheric variables. We have four sets of batteries so that we can maintain continuous operation without downtime for battery re-charging.
The P4 Pro is our workhorse for Structure from Motion (SfM) missions that provide detailed (up to 1 cm/pixel) orthorectified imagery and digital surface models with up to 1 cm vertical and horizontal accuracy. At 1 cm resolution approximately 35 hectares can be imaged in about 2.5 hours. Average flight time on one battery is about 15 minutes.
This aircraft comes with a stock 12 MP camera and has a maximum payload capacity of 420 grams and is available to adapt to small atmospheric sensors or applications such as water sampling.
This aircraft is well suited for medium-sized payloads and is the preferred platform for multispectral missions with our MicaSense RedEdge visible/near-infrared camera, but can be adapted for other payloads less than 1 kg. Typical flight time on a set of batteries is about 15 minutes. Batteries can be swapped and recharged to allow for continuous data acquisition.
This aircraft is flown with a Pixhawk flight controller and is primarily experimental. It is RTK-compatible. It can be equipped with small atmospheric, or other, sensor packages, and can be flown with the Micasense RedEdge. Average flight time per battery swap is 15 minutes and the payload capacity is less than 1 kg.
This payload is flown on our M600 and consists of a thermal camera and Sony R10 20 MP RGB camera mounted on the same gimbal.
This sensor was generously donated as part of the Hugh Roy Marshall Remote Sensing and Geophysics Instrument Facility. Combined with the M600 aircraft AirCTEMPs began acquiring UAS magnetics survey data in the spring of 2019. We seek to collaborate on projects involving geologic and archaeologic investigations, in addition to novel research applications.
This five-channel multispec sensor with downwelling light sensor is our go-to for vegetation studies and is flown on our medium-lift Tarot 650.