"Can You Even Use this Dam UAV Technology? Practically."

The practical application of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technology for shoreline management, habitat monitoring, and dam safety evaluations will provide unprecedented accuracy for riverine studies and dam safety assessments while allowing near-exact study replication and almost instantaneous data analysis.  Innovative UAV mounted orthophotographic cameras can measure and record data to the centimeter or less, providing accurate baselines for calculating slope stability, canopy cover and dam leakage monitoring.  Sequential orthographic seasonal studies can provide a chronological understanding of shoreline drift, meander movement and leakage point evaluation.  Overhead calculation of canopy cover relieves time-consuming and costly ground-based estimations and may produce a more accurate representation of habitat use and population dynamics.  Flight plan storage and retrieval means the UAV will replicate exact flight patterns, and accelerated image analysis and processing provides concise chronological deltas within days.  All this technology dovetails neatly with scientific theory; but regulatory hurdles, high capital expenditure and negative media coverage have inhibited widespread use of this technology in the field.  Can we even use this dam technology?  Find out!