06 Aug Kites and Drones as Tools for Environmental Monitoring

CTC, in collaboration with Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Denpasar – Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Management (BPSPL), organized a training on using kites and unmanned aerial vehicles or drones for environment monitoring.

The training, which was held at the CTC office in Sanur, Bali on August 6, 2016, focused on the use of these cutting-edge tools to monitor Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), coastal ecosystems as well as ecotourism activities.

Currently, kites are more widely-used for aerial monitoring and mapping among local communities in Indonesia due to its efficiency in taking high resolution pictures as well as the ease and relatively low cost of putting the tool together. Meanwhile, drones are considered more sophisticated as these are able to carry high-resolution cameras that can take photos and videos with GPS tracking but are also more expensive. There are two types of drones, multicopters and fixed wing. Multicopters have more than one propeller and can fly over 20 meters vertically for 15 minutes depending on battery capacity and wind speeds.

Both kites and drones can be utilized in monitoring surroundings, usually in mapping habitats and marine species, surveillance, and law enforcement in MPAs. The resource persons for the training were Kitty Currier from the University of California Santa Barbara and Dr. Barandi Sapta Widartono from Gajah Mada University. Training participants included staff from MMAF Denpasar, CTC, Reef Check, and Coral Alliance.