Generating a thermal index map with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with thermal sensors

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are more advantageous than traditional methods in terms
of high-resolution imaging, low cost, and time. With the thermal camera placed on the UAV,
the temperature reflectance values of large areas can be obtained more easily. This study
produced a detailed thermal index map showing the potential of this approach with the
preliminary applications using DJI Mavic 3 Pro T UAV at Harran University Osmanbey campus.
Thermal index maps can be used to identify areas with different thermal properties and to
detect environmental changes. Since the processing of thermal photographs does not yet allow
for map production in terms of software, these images are processed with remote sensing and
photogrammetric methods to obtain a thermal index map. This approach can also be used in
many areas, such as urban planning, building energy efficiency assessments, and agriculture.
This study investigated the effectiveness of UAVs with thermal cameras for mapping activities
and many different application potentials, and preliminary results of thermal index map
production studies conducted at Harran University Osmanbey campus were presented.