Using Geospatial Technologies to Aid in Unmanned

Aerial Systems Search and Rescue

Proposed by Aaron Schroeder, Joseph Klang, and Timothy Condon
March 19, 2015

Project Background

Search and Rescue (S&R) is a fledgling application of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Currently, a
major pioneer in this field is RPFlight Systems under CEO Gene Robinson. RPFlight systems deploys
UAS to areas where it is believed a missing person would be. The UAS captures imagery which is then
manually viewed to determine possible locations of a missing person. This gives S&R teams benefits that
aid in the search process. These benefits include having access to remote locations that may be difficult
for a ground search team to navigate and the ability to cover a larger area in less time. While these
benefits have greatly aided the S&R process, the integration of geospatial technologies and geographic
information systems (GIS) can vastly improve and streamline the use of UAS for S&R applications.
Common GIS algorithms, such as least-cost path and path distance which take into account the effects
terrain and land cover can have on a lost person, are applicable to this process.
The goal of this project is to develop the workflow to assist in the process of using geospatial
technologies and GIS for the aid of using UAS for S&R applications. Specifically, this project will take
publically available data and run the aforementioned GIS algorithms to help determine a high priority
search area. The UAS will then gather imagery, by flying over the high priority search area, which will
then be analyzed through various geospatial technologies. This will lead to the generation of a tool that
will attempt to efficiently automate and predict the high priority search area and possible locations of the
missing persons, taking into account their last known location and known timeline. This tools outcome
will also be used in comparison with actual case-studies of missing persons. The tool will be useful to
UAS S&R groups such as RPFlight Systems and will add validity to using UAS for S&R applications.

Fig. 1: Areas of Given Case Studies

Analysis will be run over various case studies which will dictate the study areas (Fig. 1). Thus the study
area will not necessarily be a concrete location. Rather, the study area is almost a hypothetical concept
dependent upon locations of missing persons. The tool should be able to function in multiple different
terrain types over multiple time scales, increasing and decreasing the size of the study area.
Specific Objectives
1. Run GIS algorithms to determine high priority search area using publically available data
2. Classify UAS imagery from high priority search area using remote sensing software
3. Create Python tool based on image classification and results of GIS algorithms to refine search
area
4. Compare automated results to real-life cases of missing persons
Data

The most obvious and key data will be the imagery gathered by the UAS either during S&R
missions or during test runs. These images will need to be of a high enough quality, include
enough overlap, and have locational information available for each image so they can be tagged.
All of these qualities will be required if the images are to be properly mosaicked together to form
one large, orthorectified image of the study area. This will allow more rapid processing of the
land cover classes in order to create a proper classification image and map. Due to the crucial
nature of having high quality imagery, it is key to be in contact with the imagery provider and
UAS operator, Gene Robinson of RPFlight Systems. The imagery will be provided in JPG form
and each location will have a corresponding trigger file with the information required about the
images to generate an orthorectified mosaic. As of now, images for five locations have been
provided and orthorectified mosaics have been generated. Most of these locations are test
locations and not actual S&R sites. Professor Joe Hupy is aiding in keeping in contact with Gene
Robinson to ensure proper and sufficient images are provided.
For the least-cost path analysis one of the most important pieces of data is elevation. In the
geographical sense this will be in the form of a digital elevation model (DEM). A DEM displays
the change in elevation over a given area. With a DEM, all sorts of terrain explorations can be
performed, including analyzing slope, aspect, and viewsheds. More importantly, a DEM is
essential to running least-cost path analysis in association with starting and ending points.
Therefore, the DEM will play a crucial role in determining the path that the missing person
would most likely take. The DEM(s) that will be used for this project will be found on the
National Elevation Dataset (NED) website. Another important set of data will be the National
Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) from the NLCD website. The NLCD dataset will provide land
cover data for the entire United States, which will then be able to be narrowed down based on the
study area. For the NED and NLCD datasets it is crucial to use the most recent data available.
Using outdated data will result in inaccuracies and possible geographical fallacies. Another issue
with these two datasets is the scale resolution of the data. When dealing with the possible
locations of missing persons, it is important to have detailed and precise data. Having data that is
too broad could result in a substantial error in predicting where the missing person may be.

3
Project Approach

Each member of the research team has been given specific tasks that will bring the project
together. It is broken up into three different sections which are least- cost path analysis, image
classification to locate objects of interest, and custom Python tool development.
The least-cost path analysis portion of the project will involve using ArcGIS 10.2.2 to determine
an accurate, most likely traveled path by the missing person. In order to do this a cost-raster must
be developed. The cost-raster will be a measure of how much obstruction or hindrance is
occurring in a given area (Doherty, 2014). The factors that will go into this cost-raster include,
but are not limited to, elevation/slope and a land classification model based off of the NLCD
dataset. The cost-raster can then be used in combination with the UAS imagery to develop a
raster surface that models the difficulty of the terrain a missing person would be experiencing.
From there the path distance tool can be run to develop a predicted location of where a missing
person might be. This location can then be used by the S&R team along with RPFlight Systems
to help determine a high priority search area. This generated location will also be used in
comparison with actual locations of real case-studies of missing people. Comparing the predicted
location with the actual location of where a person was found will allow for the testing of the
models accuracy.
Another portion of this project involves testing whether the images captured by the UAS during
the S&R process can be classified to determine locations of possible interest for further
searching. This will be done by taking orthomosaics generated using the aerial imagery and
running them through classification algorithms in remote sensing software. Supervised
classification and expert systems will be run within Erdas IMAGINE while object-based
classification will be run within eCognition. While two researchers, Li from Arizona State
University and Shao from Purdue University, showed in 2014 that object-based classification
tends to be more accurate at large scales, it may be more useful in this case to use pixel-based
classification methods. After the images are classified, outliers will be searched in the reflectance
spectrum to determine pixels or objects that stand out. This could help lead to finding real-life
objects that shouldnt belong in the landscape such as a small building/shelter or even clothes
from a person. Running this quickly on imagery may possibly aid in searchers determining key
sites to search on the ground.
The final portion of the project involves using the results created from the aerial imagery
classification and path-distance analysis to develop a custom tool utilizing the scripting language
Python. Since Python is the default scripting language for the vast majority of geospatial
software, it allows for seamless cross platform utilization. The tool will incorporate the image
classification raster as well as the path-distance raster to generate a final raster displaying the
areas of highest search interest. The final tool can then be deployed to multiple geospatial
platforms requiring only a few input parameters such as a DEM, NLCD, and the UAS imagery
mosaicked together. The deployment of this tool simplifies the process of deciding where to fly
the UAS which allows for effective and efficient use of S&R resources when time is of the
essence.

Fig. 2: Model of Potential Workflow

Expected Results
The ideal results will be a model that shows areas where the missing person is most likely to be
found based on time and last known location. This model, based off the multiple aforementioned
inputs, will showcase a probable search area to assist the S&R team. With the model created, the
S&R process involving UAS will work more efficiently and will hopefully be more successful.
The results of this project will be represented in a series of posters reflecting the different
objectives along the way. These posters will all be presented at the Celebration of Excellence in
Research and Creative Activity (CERCA) at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on April 27May 1.
Conclusion
Using UAS imagery is a very advantageous way to help aid in the S&R process, but it can be
even more beneficial with the assistance of applicable geospatial technologies. Incorporating GIS
into the S&R process will allow for a more capable and effective practice of S&R techniques. By
using classified UAS imagery, available terrain information, and least-cost path analysis it will

provide advantages over the current methods used in S&R. Also combining all of these processes
into a custom built Python tool automates the process making it more efficient and user friendly.
RPFlight Systems should be able to apply this python tool to real life S&R situations in the
future.
References
Doherty, P. J., Guo, Q., Doke, J., & Ferguson, D. (2014). An analysis of probability of area
techniques for missing persons in Yosemite National Park. Applied Geography, 47, 99110.

Li, X. X., and G. F. Shao. 2014. Object-Based Land-Cover Mapping with High Resolution Aerial
Photography at a County Scale in Midwestern USA. Remote Sensing 6 (11):11372-11390.

Zeiler, M., Murphy, J. Modeling Our World: The ESRI Guide to Geodatabase Concepts. 2nd ed.
Redlands, CA: ESRI, 2010. Print.