<p>About five km high in the Peruvian Andes, drones are helping scientists map glaciers and wetlands with 10-cm precision and gauge how climate change will affect the people who rely on those glaciers for water supply.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The strategy provides a ground for research teams that are investigating water security in other areas of the world with much larger populations, including India and China.<br /><br />In the Cordillera Blanca mountain area, glacier melt provides up to 50 percent of the water during the dry season and people use it for farms, hydroelectricity and to drink.<br /><br />One early finding is that the Cordillera Blanca has a healthy groundwater system. "We know the glaciers are disappearing, so there will be less water available for the dry season in the future. But what my colleagues and I have found is that the groundwater system is storing some of the glacier melt as well as precipitation," said Oliver Wigmore, doctoral student in geography at the Ohio State University.<br /><br />"There will still be a significant drop in water supply eventually, but there may be some potential for the groundwater to buffer it," he added.<br /><br />With the help from data gathered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Wigmore also recorded measurements that suggest a key glacier in the region's Llaca Valley is changing rapidly.<br /><br />"UAVs offer some of the best technology available today for gathering data on a scale to inform local water management decisions," Wigmore said.<br /><br />The drone technology overcomes clouds, rough terrain and thin air that prevent easy access to ice on the Cordillera Blanca.<br /><br />In the Cordillera Blanca, clouds block satellite views for all but a few weeks a year, and the terrain is too irregular to take reliable ice surface measurements by hand.<br /><br />The Ohio State UAVs have a 10-cm resolution, work despite frequently cloudy conditions in the mountains of Peru and cost a few thousand dollars each.<br /><br />In contrast, satellites provide a half-meter resolution at best, work only during the two months a year when the region is relatively cloud-free and cost millions of dollars.<br />Wigmore equipped the large, lightweight drones with high-speed motors and extra long propellers to carry them through the thin air.<br /><br />Flying about 100 metres above the ice and wetlands, the UAVs take hundreds of pictures that overlap, providing 3D imaging the way a pair of human eyes provide depth perception.<br /><br />"It's like hundreds of eyes looking from different perspectives all across this landscape," Wigmore noted. He controls part of every flight from a laptop computer and then lets the UAV fly autonomously while it's gathering data.<br /><br />Whereas airplane surveys cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and satellites cost millions, the scientists can build a UAV for around $4,000.<br /><br />Wigmore added on-board sensor systems that map the earth in visible light, near infrared and thermal infrared. Most of the cameras cost around $400 each. He presented the results at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday.</p>
<p>About five km high in the Peruvian Andes, drones are helping scientists map glaciers and wetlands with 10-cm precision and gauge how climate change will affect the people who rely on those glaciers for water supply.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The strategy provides a ground for research teams that are investigating water security in other areas of the world with much larger populations, including India and China.<br /><br />In the Cordillera Blanca mountain area, glacier melt provides up to 50 percent of the water during the dry season and people use it for farms, hydroelectricity and to drink.<br /><br />One early finding is that the Cordillera Blanca has a healthy groundwater system. "We know the glaciers are disappearing, so there will be less water available for the dry season in the future. But what my colleagues and I have found is that the groundwater system is storing some of the glacier melt as well as precipitation," said Oliver Wigmore, doctoral student in geography at the Ohio State University.<br /><br />"There will still be a significant drop in water supply eventually, but there may be some potential for the groundwater to buffer it," he added.<br /><br />With the help from data gathered by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Wigmore also recorded measurements that suggest a key glacier in the region's Llaca Valley is changing rapidly.<br /><br />"UAVs offer some of the best technology available today for gathering data on a scale to inform local water management decisions," Wigmore said.<br /><br />The drone technology overcomes clouds, rough terrain and thin air that prevent easy access to ice on the Cordillera Blanca.<br /><br />In the Cordillera Blanca, clouds block satellite views for all but a few weeks a year, and the terrain is too irregular to take reliable ice surface measurements by hand.<br /><br />The Ohio State UAVs have a 10-cm resolution, work despite frequently cloudy conditions in the mountains of Peru and cost a few thousand dollars each.<br /><br />In contrast, satellites provide a half-meter resolution at best, work only during the two months a year when the region is relatively cloud-free and cost millions of dollars.<br />Wigmore equipped the large, lightweight drones with high-speed motors and extra long propellers to carry them through the thin air.<br /><br />Flying about 100 metres above the ice and wetlands, the UAVs take hundreds of pictures that overlap, providing 3D imaging the way a pair of human eyes provide depth perception.<br /><br />"It's like hundreds of eyes looking from different perspectives all across this landscape," Wigmore noted. He controls part of every flight from a laptop computer and then lets the UAV fly autonomously while it's gathering data.<br /><br />Whereas airplane surveys cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and satellites cost millions, the scientists can build a UAV for around $4,000.<br /><br />Wigmore added on-board sensor systems that map the earth in visible light, near infrared and thermal infrared. Most of the cameras cost around $400 each. He presented the results at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday.</p>