Title: Application of unmanned aerial vehicle in the management of Akure forest reserve in Southwestern Nigeria

Authors: Nathaniel Olugbade Adeoye; Isaac Adelakun Gbiri; Oladimeji Samuel Popoola

Addresses: Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria ' Department of Geographic Information Systems, Federal School of Surveying (FSS), Oyo Township, Oyo State, Nigeria ' Cooperative Information Network (COPINE), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract: This study utilised unmanned aerial vehicle to produce land cover map of Akure forest reserve. Topographical map of the study area was gridded to determine proper coordinates of the forest reserve. The coordinates were pre-loaded in quadcopter through a series of predefined waypoints and flight lines. Three hundred metres altitude was chosen to avoid tree canopy obstructions for the drone. The drone speed was set at 3 m/s. Images were captured in panchromatic mode of RGB with shutter capture speed at 1/1,000 s. One hundred and ten of the images captured were used for the study. The images were assembled and processed in Drone2map software to produce a land cover map. The stereoscopic interpretation of the map with ground truthing revealed certain anthropogenic activities threatening the forest reserve. In conclusion, this study found drone as flexible, low-cost and reliable tools in accurately acquiring high resolution remote sensing data for effective forest management.

Keywords: drones; ultra-spatial resolution data; Drone2map software; Akure forest reserve; Nigeria.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2020.112603

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2020 Vol.20 No.3/4, pp.266 - 285

Received: 27 Feb 2020
Accepted: 31 Mar 2020
Published online: 22 Jan 2021 *

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