Drone Limitations

Drone Limitations

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Robert Blair has been a pioneer in developing drones for agricultural use. Idaho Farm Bureau reporter Steve Ritter and I visited with him at a recent demonstration. "What are the limitations of the aircraft? How high can it go, how close to the ground does it have to be to get images? Unless you have an FAA section 33 exemption, you cannot fly for commercial purposes or in support of commercial operations. From a farmer's standpoint, that means you can fly your garden but you cannot fly your fields. Under our exemption, we also have to have a COA known as a certificate of authorization that tells us the areas that we can fly in. Those individual COA's allow us to fly at 400 feet above ground level. There are other restrictions as well but that is one of the main ones and we also have to keep it in line of sight. The FAA also came out with a blanket COA that is allowing us to fly anywhere in the United States for any type of aerial mapping or aerial imaging purpose at a 200 foot level. The advantage of using a drone over other types of imaging platforms is that it is timely, we can be there on the spot in a more timely manner than scheduling out a week for a manned aircraft or waiting for a satellite to come around and hope you don't have cloud cover. The other thing is cost. We have a lower cost base than other media.
Previous ReportImportance of Pollinators
Next ReportHow to raise organic poultry