SHF (Société Hydrotechnique de France) is organising a new international conference on the use of drones in the water sector, to take place in Paris during April 2015.
At the present time, the methods used for carrying out measurements and tests in the water industry are conducted at ground level or from space. Halfway between these two, the development and increasing reliability of drones, both aerial and aquatic, allow for the rapid mass acquisition of all types of data, aggregate or detailed, visual or digital. Civil drones are becoming more widespread and popular, due to the growing number of manufacturers and operators (approximately 350 in France), their technical characteristics and range of applications. Although they are mainly used for certain events, agriculture and industry, they are increasingly being employed in the water industry and aquatic environments.
Civil drone demonstrations mainly concentrate on the “platform” or “system” technology, or on general topics such as regulation, safety and emerging legislation. They focus less on specialized instrumentation. The idea of a conference dedicated to the use of drones for hydraulic works and related water industries is innovative and unique for the type of applications targetted.
Furthermore, the various aerial or spatial approaches will be complementary rather than being in direct competition, by using remote sensing. Drones allow for work to be carried out under multiple spatial and temporal condition, as well as obtaining a mix of different types of information.
Being a veritable vehicle for progress, civil drones allow the operator to view areas that may be inaccessible on occasions, thus increasing safety levels during certain operations and improving the quality of the surveillance methods, while also being quick and easy to implement, at a low cost.
