Many concepts have been proposed in recent years among UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Latin American researchers in the area of small unmanned airship for use in agri-business and forestry industry, but very few projects have reached production status yet. One reason is the inherent complexity of most UAS concepts, which in turn drives costs and development time. Other reason is the lack for legal framework to integrate these vehicles to national airspace. The paper authors have conducted small unmanned airship R&D programs in Mexico and Ecuador and reached a substantial experience facing these and other interesting facts and have also through its operation reached a substantial knowledge of agri-business and forestry requirements along Latin-America. This paper offers a study of the Agri-business and forestry Latin-American market for small unmanned airships operations as well provides airship manufacturers with an overview of potential and promising applications in the region.

1. 9th International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012
Market Paper
Overview of Agri-business and Forestry Market for small
unmanned airships in Latin America
Adrian Peña Cervantes1
, Victor Xavier Enriquez Champutiz2
and Adrian Yair Peña Sosa
1
Tecnavix, Mexico City, Mexico
2
GNC Principal Researcher, CIDFAE, Ambato, Ecuador
4
Instituto Tecnológico de Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
Abstract
Many concepts have been proposed in recent years among UAS (Unmanned Aerial
Systems) Latin American researchers in the area of small unmanned airship for use in
agri-business and forestry industry, but very few projects have reached production status
yet. One reason is the inherent complexity of most UAS concepts, which in turn drives
costs and development time. Other reason is the lack for legal framework to integrate
these vehicles to national airspace. The paper authors have conducted small unmanned
airship R&D programs in Mexico and Ecuador and reached a substantial experience
facing these and other interesting facts and have also through its operation reached a
substantial knowledge of agri-business and forestry requirements along Latin-America.
This paper offers a study of the Agri-business and forestry Latin-American market for
small unmanned airships operations as well provides airship manufacturers with an
overview of potential and promising applications in the region (Figure 1).
Fig.1: Small unmanned airship concept in an agriculture field deployment example.

2. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
9th
International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 2
1 INTRODUCTION
Latin America is the source of many
processed agricultural products that
consumers in the US, Canada and
Europe purchase along the year. During
the next few years it is expected that
Mexico will be shipping even more
avocados, table grapes, and citrus fruit
to these markets.
Food safety and public health at those
markets is a concern with food grown in
Mexico and South America. There is a
broad scientific consensus that less-
resilient agricultural production areas
will suffer the most, as temperatures rise
further, for example in semitropical and
tropical latitudes, and as already dry
regions face even drier conditions. [1]
Associated to market development it is
expected an increase in global demand
that is going to be coupled with
limitations of supply resulting from
scarcity of natural resources like land
and water. This gap between supply and
demand dictates that those resources
need to be used more effectively.
Among other reasons this is why
capacity of Mexican and Latin American
agriculture system to continue providing
adequate supplies for food depends in
large part on the implementation of new
and available technologies.
In the past, the majority of increases in
the food supply have been possible by
better agricultural and farm
management practices, farm equipment
and machinery, the use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides and more
recently by land management. It is now
when a mature solution can be offered
to the agri-business market employing
remote sensing technologies through
the use of unmanned aerial systems.
The incorporation of UAS (Unmanned
Aerial Systems) to agri-business will
allow better practices in crop production,
forestry, livestock, fisheries, marketing
and much more. Some of their remote
sensing activities can also help to adapt
to climate change.
UAS can take the visual assessment of
key soil, state and plant performance
indicators of soil quality, presented on a
scorecard. With the exception of soil
texture, the soil indicators are dynamic
indicators, capable of changing under
different management regimes and
land-use pressures. Being sensitive to
change, they are useful early warning
indicators of changes in soil condition
and as such provide an effective
monitoring tool.
Small unmanned airships are believed
to become a viable decision-support tool
for agro-business and forestry
communities in Latin America.
2 AGRI-BUSINESSES – MARKET
SIZE AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
SMALL UNMANNED AIRSHIPS
Agriculture is one of the world’s largest
industries, it spans a wide variety of
businesses relating to or supporting the
cultivation of plants, forestry, fisheries
and agriculture.
The agribusiness sector has seen
impressive growth in recent years, with
current revenues in excess of more than
$70bn. It looks likely to remain so for the
foreseeable future. Rising demand for
food together with increases in grain
prices and in the area planted have
contributed to the overall upward trend.

3. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 3
As we stated above, complex and
rapidly-changing agri-business
environment requires data that is clear,
consistent and collected in or near real
time, with consequent requirements for
implementation and management of
master data and business intelligence
strategies.
Food producers in Latin American
countries need to progress from
producing and exporting commodities to
adding value and increasing productivity
through sustainable processing and
manufacturing. Some of the most
important aspects related to technology
and value addition include: product
development, quality and productivity,
upgrading enterprises by introducing
land and soil management as well as
sustainable technological solutions for
remote sensing activities. Adding new
technology as Unmanned Aerial
Systems to this sector also will create
ecologically sustainable means of
production with regard to the use of
water, energy, chemicals and other
inputs. [2]
There are many platforms available for
Unmanned Aerial Systems operations in
agri-business activities, some of them
more effective than others in certain
applications, but unfortunately most of
these systems represent a prohibitive
cost for most of the small farm and agri-
business communities in Latin America.
As specialists on the field of unmanned
aerial systems we have conducted
evaluations during the past 6 years with
different platforms for use in agri-
business, but the most promising so far
for Latin American region seem to be
the small unmanned airships because of
the next features:
• Low financial outlay and less
sophisticated payload
requirements (when compared to
military and manned aircraft)
• They can be operated under an
easier training program for
forestry and farm operators.
• They provide potential economic
savings and environmental
benefits with less fuel
consumption, less greenhouse
gas emission, and less disruptive
noise than for manned aircraft.
• They represent one of the most
growing technology tools in
remote perception techniques to
identify spectral features that are
related to water stress, nutrient
deficiency, pest infestation and
invasive weeds among many
other biophysical characteristics.
• The small unmanned airships
can bridge the gap between
what can be measured by
satellites and what is measured
at static ground-based, research
stations. They are easy to
transport, relatively simple to
deploy in forest or remote
geographic areas as well as
easy to launch and recover by
on-field operators and agro-
forestry specialists. They do not
need specialized airfields to
conduct flights for
photogrammetry and soil
analysis.
• Small unmanned airship imagery
can complement space-borne
imagery in case the latter is not
accurate enough or not timely
available. Using these kinds of
UAS will solve the problem of
satellite imagery availability in
cloudy conditions in particular

4. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 4
Though many nations have strong
unmanned aerial systems (UAS)
aspirations, the availability of funds
reflects the actual market revenue.
Economical and practical UAS platforms
must be conceptualized to become
integrated to important civilian
applications as those we describe in this
paper in the agri-business or forestry
industry. Lighter-than-air technology
can lead the way to integrate
economical and affordable solutions for
agri-business in developing nations
because of innovative advances in
automation, Machine vision systems,
fabrics and energy management.
Recently, we have found that Small
unmanned airships can operate with a
better deployable operational concept
for forestry applications (Figure 2). The
opportunities for these UAS in Mexico
are very interesting because of the need
to update constantly the cartography
and vegetation index along the country
[3].
Fig.2: Small unmanned airship concept in a forest
deployment example.
3 THE SMALL UNMANNED AIRSHIP
DESIGN
Our group has worked in the research
and development of Small Unmanned
Airships and Unmanned Aerial Systems
(UAS) during the last years in Mexico,
Ecuador and Spain in order to provide
highly dependable flight operations for
the agri-business market in Latin
America.
As mentioned before, for
photogrammetry purposes, the UAS
must fly at different altitudes ranging
from 0 – 9000 feet above sea level and
the technical characteristics of the small
unmanned airships are planned as
follows:
• Test bed platforms versions
ranging 7.8 m – 14m long, 3.0m
equipped with 4 control rudders
in a ``X shape'' configuration,
shown in the figure 3.
• 2 electric motors for power plant
as main thrusters providing a
maximum speed 45 km/h,
decreasing in wind gusts to
25 km/h.
• Flight endurance: 1- 2 hours with
25Km/h cruising speed.
• Maximum available payload
prospected for 8 kg (18 lb).
• Two envelopes in the airship hull
body. Inner envelope works as
pressure-resistant gas helium
bag.
• Semi rigid configuration with
outer envelope engineered to
maintain rigidity necessary for
the integration of an optional
solar cell array, gondola, stern
thruster and rudders in the
airship.
• Flight range according to
electrical propulsion system
(25Km/hr cruise speed) and
autopilot capabilities is
calculated for 5Km (3 Miles).

5. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 5
Fig. 3: Control rudders in a “X shape”
configuration. Photo courtesy of the CIDFAE’s
digital archives
The propulsion is provided by a group of
electric brushless motors (2 motors)
attached to each side of the gondola
below the center line of the airship and
controlled by a dedicated DSP controller
module that takes part of the GN & C
design.
A third electrical motor will be installed
in the stern portion of the hull to provide
Yaw control under specific maneuvers
at low speeds. This motor will be driven
by the GN & C system as well as the
other power plant equipment and will
have a control algorithm defined under
software simulations and energy
management.
The power for electric engines is
supplied by a bank of Lithium-Polymer
batteries (14.8V 4-6 cells 1600mAh X 2)
carried at the gondola’s compartment
with 1250W maximum electric
consumption for each motor as well as
associated wiring with low current waste
cables along the entire electrical
system.
The propeller (14” x 7”) and motors are
protected by a plastic ducted fence
mounted at the end of a bar, which
rotates driven by a servomotor and a
gear system to provide plurality of
controllable pitch thrust vector, in order
to ascend, descend or gain speed in
level flight.
The mechanical characteristics of
proposed power plant with an internal
combustion engine version can be
shown in the following figure (Figure 4):
Fig. 4: Power plant mounted on the gondola with a
controllable pitch thrust vector mechanism. Photo
courtesy of the CIDFAE’s digital archives
3.1 Advances in Autonomous GN & C
(Guidance, Navigation and Control)
design
The GN & C (Guidance, Navigation and
Control) system provides an autopilot
capability to the small unmanned
airship, so that its flight path meets the
high-level objectives commanded by the
forestry and agriculture operators.
Figure 5 shows the scheme of the
proposed autopilot system framework.

6. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 6
Fig. 5: Scheme of the Autopilot System
Framework.
The onboard GN & C (guidance,
navigation and control) system will work
autonomously to perform station
keeping in the presence of varying
winds and rising/falling atmospheric
density. The GNC is under construction
and designed under a R&D program
starting with the creation of control
algorithms for the unmanned airship in
accordance to efficient operational
qualities for agro-forestry operators and
portable Ground Control Stations.
These control algorithms are under test
employing dynamic simulations through
MATLAB – SIMULINK software.
Some of the simulations activities are
the following:
• Dynamics of the aircraft
• Guidance and navigation
• Control System
• external disturbances (wind, etc ...)
3.2 The PID Controllers for GN & C
operation
The autopilot system has a decision
making concept based in PID
(Proportional–Integral–Derivative)
control loops. This control concept is
under test to provide station-keeping,
altitude-hold, direction-hold, velocity-
hold, and trajectory-hold for the small
unmanned airship under design.
Figure 6 shows an example of PID’s
closed feedback loop operation.
Fig. 6: Example of a PID Closed feedback loop for
operation of elevator control.
A PID is the most commonly used
feedback controller. It calculates an
"error" value as the difference between
a measured process variable and a
desired set-point. For our autopilot
design the PID controllers attempt to
minimize the error by adjusting the
process control inputs. [4]
As mentioned previously, a final goal of
our GN & C work is to develop an
Autopilot system with PID feedback loop
controllers.
At present, use of the PID’s in our flights
is limited to simulation in Mathlab and
Simulink software because a
development plan of a technical
demonstrator is under preparation.

7. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 7
A block diagram of the proposed PID
feedback controller concept is presented
in the next figure (Figure 7)
Fig. 7: Block diagram of proposed PID feedback
control loop in the GN & C System.
3.3 Advances in Data Link – RF
Modem
The Small Unmanned Airship missions
require the use of a dependable data
link to control and command the
unmanned GN & C (Guidance,
Navigation and Control) system. A
second data link will be installed on-
board to down-link the real-time hyper
spectral camera, as well an optional
gyro-stabilized video streaming payload.
According to general operational terms,
the Data Link will operate mainly in the
line-of-sight of the unmanned airship
and in continuous presence of radio
coverage. The knowledge of all flying
parameters (down-linked to the control
station by telemetry) is essential to
ensure the appropriate handling of the
airship. In addition, when automatic
phases of flight are conducted, the pilot
must be able to take over direct control
of the unmanned airship during take-off
and landing stages as well as in the
case of unexpected or emergency
situations along the mission path with
radio coverage availability.
An outside line-of-sight operation or
radio coverage lost strategy will relay to
the autopilot’s GNC (Guidance,
Navigation and Control) system to
autonomous command the airship for a
“back home” maneuver and tracking the
aircraft position in real time under
emergency RF signal beacons. This will
help the operators in the GCS (Ground
Control Station) to track and maintain
command of the aircraft under different
emergency conditions.
3.4 Ground Control Station
Since the small unmanned airship
development intended must be practical
and easy to operate, the operator’s
interface will have a custom design
based in portable and rugged Ground
Control Stations.
The design and development of the
ground control station is carried out
under the graphical programming
language LABVIEW to display the
following control and status data from
the airship’s autopilot, sensors and
basic instrumentation telemetry:
• Latitude, longitude and altitude
from the GPS system on board.
• Latitude, longitude and altitude
from the Kalman filter.
• Airship’s Euler angles.
• Acceleration.
• Angular velocity.
• Airship’s magnetic bearing.
• Static Pressure.
• Dynamic pressure (Pitot-Tube)
according to airship’s
performance at low speeds.

8. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
9th
International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 8
The GCS also provides for the creation
of the following parameters for
transmission to the airship:
• Configuration parameters control
system
• Static pressure in the ground
station.
• Operation Mode.
• Points of programmed path on
the route or planned mission
It has been agreed that a condition of up
to 2 hours endurance is required.
Therefore, for the final system, larger
capacity batteries will be required and
designed in a strategic plan for Solar
Cells chargers and local electrical power
when available at mission’s localities.
5 THE MACHINE VISION SYSTEMS.
Our group has required assistance from
the Spanish company BCB Informática y
Control [4] for the development of
Machine vision systems on board of our
Small Unmanned airships under design.
According to their engagement in our
project, the company has participated in
this paper with the following report:
5.1 The payload concept.
The machine vision systems in
conjunction with the UAS represent a
convenient opportunity for low-cost
applications, allowing optimum spatial,
spectral and temporal resolutions. This
Unmanned Aerial System can be
equipped with thermal and narrowband
multispectral imaging sensors, obtaining
thermal imagery in the 8-14 μm region
(40 cm resolution) and narrowband
multispectral imagery in the 400-800 nm
spectral region (20 cm resolution).
With this instrumentation, it is possible
to estimate biophysical parameters
using vegetation indices, namely,
normalized difference vegetation index,
transformed chlorophyll absorption in
reflectance index/optimized soil-
adjusted vegetation index, and
photochemical reflectance index (PRI).
In this way, the image products of leaf
area index, chlorophyll content (Cab),
and water stress detection from PRI
index and canopy temperature can be
produced.
5.2 The software and hardware
design
The brain of the Small Unmanned
Airship is a Single-Board RIO from
National Instruments combining a real-
time processor, reconfigurable FPGA,
and analog and digital I/O on an
embedded, single board programmed
with the G compiler named LabVIEW. It
combines the highest performance real-
time processor with a Xilinx Spartan-6
FPGA and built-in peripherals such as
USB, RS232 and Ethernet to
communicate with the existing sensors.
With this calculation power, it is possible
to integrate also the autopilot with cycle
times below 10 ms, with input data from
GPS, IMU (accelerometer, gyros and
magnetometer) and a portable weather
station.
About communications, an IP modem
allows to connect with ground station in
real time to transmit data in a safe way.
Also, Zigbee communications are used
to gather information from ground
sensors (while flying at low or medium
altitudes).
Pay load must be maintained below 8
kg. With this limitation, it is possible to
place thermal and narrowband
multispectral imaging sensors and a

9. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
9th
International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 9
PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera with an
x35 optic zoom. This visible camera
can be used in an automatic (with
automatic tracking) or manual way
(commanded by the operator using the
data link). Also, FIR (Far Infrared
Arrays) sensors, built on silicon are a
very promising option due to their low
weight and cost compared with other
microbolometer-based technologies.
The size of batteries defines flight
endurance, but the installation of flexible
panels (bigger than 6 m2
) in the upper
structure using OPV (Organic
Photovoltaic Panels) increase
endurance as much as need (of course
only during sunny days). Their efficiency
is poorly yet compared with silicon
photovoltaic devices, but several
advantages make them very interesting
for this application: weight, flexibility and
also low cost.
5.3 The Ground Segment
The station is formed by a tablet
computer for controlling the aerial
platform in real-time, receiving images
to analyze their quality, and changing
their acquisition parameters if there is
any problem. Also, a GPS receiver in
the station allows knowing in a
continuous way the distance between
the small unmanned airship and
operator.
Due to the real-time data link, it is
possible to receive data (and view
images) from the different sensors. Also
the off-line processing allows operations
as image enhancement and
stabilization, 3D modeling and mosaic
building, view reconstruction. Sensor
fusion among all the data sources is a
powerful method to generate smart
data, and get, for example, an
estimation of biophysical parameters.
6 PHOTOGRAMMETRY
For photogrammetry techniques, our
research group at Mexico is partnering
with the Canadian company ACCUAS
Inc, one of the leaders in the field of
UAS-based remote sensing and located
in British Columbia, Canada [5].
The ACCUAS Inc Company uses a
number of low cost UAVs for surveys of
small areas. Typical horizontal
accuracies achieved by the company
are better than 15 cm, while vertical
accuracies on most jobs are better than
20 cm. To put this in perspective the
American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) has
drawn up a number of accuracy
standards for photogrammetric surveys.
The horizontal and vertical accuracies
which ACCUAS achieves exceed
ASPRS class 1 accuracy for 1:1,000
scale surveys, with a half meter contour
interval. This level of accuracy is better
than can normally be achieved from
higher altitude manned photogrammetric
surveys.
In general UAS-based photogrammetry
is similar to traditional photogrammetry
undertaken from a manned aircraft.
There are however a number of
important differences:
6.1 Flying height
A typical UAV survey is carried out at an
altitude of around 300 m above ground
level. This is around a tenth of the flying
height for a traditional photogrammetric
survey. The low flying height means that
low cost compact cameras may be
used, since their relatively low resolution
is compensated for by the low altitude of
the survey.

10. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 10
6.2 Camera calibration
The procedure for UAS mounted
cameras as those we foresee for
operation in the unmanned airship under
design differs from the procedure used
for traditional aerial cameras. These are
precision calibrated and have an
associated calibration certificate, which
details interior orientation parameters,
such as focal length and lens distortion
coefficients. The low flying height and
low sensor resolution means that
calibration requirements for cameras
carried by small unmanned airships are
generally less rigorous. Typically an off
the shelf calibration package, such as
Photo-Modeler, is used to establish a
base calibration. Compact cameras tend
to have relatively poor sensor geometry,
and this may vary after several rough
landings. One approach to dealing with
this is to recalibrate the camera
frequently on the job, using a correction
grid generated from observations of
reliable ground control points. This
approach is well suited to small-scale
UAV surveys, where dense ground
control may be established with relative
ease.
6.3 Image processing
Small unmanned airship flights are
planned in advance using dedicated
flight planning software. This allows
parameters such as flying height, strip
orientation, and photo overlap to be
specified in order to obtain the optimal
coverage of the area to be surveyed.
When the flight plan is complete, it is
uploaded to the autopilot of the UAV.
The aircraft will then fly the prepared
flight plan, taking photos at the specified
intervals. On landing, a dedicated log
file can be downloaded from the aircraft.
This contains information on the GPS
position and camera attitude information
for each of the photo centers.
The image processing is generally
similar to the procedures used in a
conventional photogrammetric survey.
The log file information is used to
provide initial estimates of photo
positions and orientations. A rigorous
block adjustment procedure, involving
the use of ground control points is then
used to reconstruct the correct photo
geometry. Once triangulation and block
adjustment are complete, detailed
elevation models can be produced,
which can be used to produce accurate
orthophotos.
7 THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK.
New UAS technology and capabilities
are on the horizon for exploitation in
Mexico and Latin America, but they
need industry and government support
for development and implementation.
Both, operators and original equipment
manufacturers are moving to address
these issues in current and future
programs aimed at the agri-business
and forestry market.
Unmanned Aerial System is a reality in
today’s aviation world and the
introduction of these vehicles in the
National Air space (NAS) will depend of
its complete adaptation to this new
environment. In the other hand, the
technologies, procedures, and
regulations to enable seamless
operation and integration of Small
Unmanned Airships in the NAS need to
be developed, validated, and employed
by Latin American air authorities through
rulemaking and policy development.

11. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 11
In Mexico, our group has obtained
experience through the research and
development of diverse UAS platforms,
including small unmanned airships.
During these activities we have found
interesting issues these unmanned
aerial systems must overcome to fly
routinely in segregated and non-
segregated airspace. Some of them are
as follows:
• We have found that the array
and automation of our UAS pilot
stations require solve many
certification issues including the
mandatory resolutions about
Transponder and two-way
communication between the
designated Pilot-In-Command
(PIC), observers, flight crew and
ATC, as well the associated
training it requires creating a
safe flight operation, so crew
licensing and operator approval
also will require a great deal of
work and study. This means also
the need for our commercial and
business plan to integrate
domestic and foreign
manufactured UAS equipment
transparently into the existing air
traffic control system (ATC).
• Small unmanned airships
equipment faces the need to
improve “sense and avoid”
technology when flying in VFR or
beyond visual range. The UAS
operators must conduct direct
voice communications with ATC,
using radio communications,
which can be received by all
aircraft.
• Integrating a UAS, which has no
pilot in the cockpit to participate
directly in the ATC voice
communication network, is a
relevant challenge for Mexican
Air Authority. The designated
Pilot-In-Command (PIC), sitting
in a UAS station in a remote
location, has to rely on
instrumentation to deliver flight
situational awareness by Voice
transmission to ATC. At the new
ICAO Cir-328 [6] there is a
recommendation to implement
such amazingly complex
automatic flight data by wired
connections or ground
connections to improve
situational awareness to ATC
Systems. This brings a new
challenge to integrate software
and dedicated IP ground network
connections from UAS operators
to ATC headquarters.
• Manned aircraft are very well
understood by Mexican air
authority, but UAS equipment
needs to build an urgent
experience roadmap to be
integrated to civil operations.
8 CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented a framework
for integrating small unmanned airships
to agri-business and forestry industry for
Latin American farmers and food
producers. These UAS represent real
advantages in terms of modularity,
silence, substantial autonomy and high
degree of controllability during normal
and scheduled day and night hours.
Latin America has the potential to create
a strong Lighter-than-air UAS industrial
(manufacturing & services) base within
the agri-business strategic market &
stimulate the creation of jobs.

12. Paper Peña, Enriquez and Peña
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International Airship Convention, Ashford, 2012 12
9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• The authors express their
deepest gratitude to the National
Council for Science and
Technology (CONACYT) of
Mexico [7] and the Research
and Development Center of the
Ecuadorian Air force (CIDFAE)
[8] for its funding and technical
support to airships and
unmanned vehicles research
programs in previous years.
Without the government policies
to support science, technology
and innovation, this research
project could not be possible.
• We express sincere appreciation
for the intense and dedicated
work performed by funders,
members and collaborators of
the International Airship
Association to promote the
airship technology. Their advice
and enthusiasm are invaluable
for Latin American airship
researchers.
• We express sincere appreciation
for the valuable engagement and
technical advice in
photogrammetry and aerial
mapping techniques from the
Canadian company Accuas Inc,
particularly from Scott McTavish,
Darryl Jacobs and Ken
Whitehead
• We express deep gratitude to
Javier Bezares Del Cueto, from
the Spanish company BCB
Informática y Control for his
valuable cooperation and
assessment in vision machine
systems for our UAS project.
• We express deep gratitude to
James K. Yarger II, Industrial
designer from the Art Institute of
Portland for his valuable help in
the platform design and sketches
for the presentation of this paper.
10 REFERENCES
[1]The Agriculture outlook website
http://www.agri-outlook.org/
[2] OCDE-FAO Agriculture Outlook
2010-2019
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/13
/45438527.pdf
[3]National Forestry Commission
http://www.conafor.gob.mx/bibliotec
a/Inventario-Nacional-Forestal-y-de-
Suelos.pdf El Inventario Nacional
Forestal y de Suelos de México
2004-2009. Una herramienta que
da certeza a la planeación,
evaluación y el desarrollo forestal
de México.
[4] BCB Informática y Control.
http://www.bcb.es/inicio/index.php
[5] Accuas Inc. Aerial Mapping
Services, GIS & Photogrammetry.
http://www.accuas.com/
[6]ICAO Circular 328
http://www.icao.int/Meetings/UAS/D
ocuments/Circular%20328_en.pdf
[7]The National Council for Science
and Technology of Mexico
(CONACyT) URL:
http://www.conacyt.gob.mx/
[8]Research and Development Center
of the Ecuadorian Air force
(CIDFAE)
http://fuerzaaereaecuatoriana.mil.ec
/new/?option=com_content&view=a
rticle&id=112&Itemid=222&fontstyle
=f-larger