My paper is about the design and construction about an unmanned airship for remote perceptions tasks.

1. 8th International Airship Convention, Bedford, 2010
Climate-1 Paper 19
Small unmanned helium airships with electric power plant as
low cost remote-sensing platforms
Adrian Peña Cervantes
UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Consultant,
Mexico City, Mexico.
Abstract
As long as developing nations in Latin America make efforts to mitigate climate changes
in their regions, the economic factor plays a major role in the implementation of
affordable solutions. In the next years, mitigating climate change programs in Latin
America will employ in larger scale aerial vehicles to collect, analyze and making
modeling for biomass and soil carbon in community-level agricultural, agro forestry, or
forestation/reforestation projects. In this case, unmanned remote sensing platforms
could substantially change the costs and reliability of monitoring mitigation projects and
enable greater participation even from small-scale agriculture in local communities
across the region, where the use of satellite mapping or manned aircrafts could
represent a prohibitive use because of the costs implied. The primary tool to map and
estimate land cover or land use at the regional and local level could be a low-cost,
unmanned helium airship under development by institutes and company partners in
Mexico, Spain, Ecuador, Canada and USA which represents a better cost effective
platform not needing specialized airfields, including energy efficient electric power plant
with a photovoltaic envelope generator for auxiliary power storage devices, dependable
new soil-analytical techniques that use visible-near-infrared reflectance (VNIR)
spectroscopy and the most important: better training and operation qualities for farm and
agro forestry operators.

2. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
1 INTRODUCTION forest inventory data are few and in
According to the National Forest and constant change.
Soil Inventory of Mexico 2004-2009 [1],
In Mexico have evolved some 15,000 In recent years, Mexican and Latin
different plant species (between 50 and American Biologists have indicated that
60 percent of known species of Mexico forests in the region may be subjected to
so far) that are Mexico’s endemic. This a variety of different activities
means that half or more of Mexico’s simultaneously, which may have
flora cannot found anywhere else in the interactive effects on ecological
world. If one species becomes extinct in processes and the exploration of such
Mexico, it disappears completely from interactions remains a significant
the world. This is an example of critical modeling challenge in environment
biodiversity issue that faces not only protection in the region [3].
Mexico but most of the countries across
Latin America region, fig 1. [2] A key current challenge for SMF is to
develop adequate cost/benefit methods
for mapping the value of different
ecosystem services on which livelihoods
depend so this information may be
incorporated in a high rate in spatial
planning. Such analyses obtained in a
big scale could potentially be integrated
with spatially explicit models of forest
dynamics, providing a tool for exploring
provision of ecosystem services under
different scenarios of environmental
change. The research outputs obtained
are also requested to support the
development and implementation of
policies relating to SFM, through the
development of decision-support tools
and management recommendations.
Fig.1: Forests at Risk in Latin
Actually, the Satellite and Manned
America, with Assessment of Level of
aircrafts mapping is a widely used tool to
Threat. Image taken from the United
obtain statistical models of the spatial
Nations Environment Program
dynamics of forest cover, species
through its global environment
distribution data, and other GIS
outlook (GEO) website [2].
(Graphical Interface Systems)
information among Latin America
Although over the past two decades,
countries, in order to identify areas of
Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)
actual or potential biodiversity loss, and
has become an environmental issue
thereby helping to identify priorities for
worldwide, there is a widespread
conservation actions.
concern about high rates of forest loss
and degradation in many areas. This
As another widely used tool, the local
states the need for new efforts by local
surveys and mapping by forest and
agro-forestry communities and
agriculture technicians are performed
governments to collect new field data for
today through a combination of
model parameterization, as existing
conventional, manned aircraft fly-overs
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3. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
and foot patrols. Manned aircraft have a deploy in forest or remote geographic
high cost rate, very high greenhouse areas as well as easy to launch and
gas emissions, are dangerous, intrusive recover by on-field operators and agro-
in ecosystems and are not very good forestry specialists.
platforms for long and detailed imagery
aerial photography due their normal high They provide real advantages in terms
speed - high altitude above ground level of modularity, silence, substantial
flight conditions. In the other hand, autonomy and high degree of
conventional patrols are obviously very controllability during normal and
labor intensive, and thus slow and scheduled day and night hours.
dangerous for human beings.
These decision-support tools mentioned Most of Its missions will take place
before permit the adequate production within visual line-of-sight and at altitudes
of map-based research outputs using ranging from 150 to 500 feet and are
survey techniques and GIS (Graphical therefore outside airspaces used by
Interface Systems) and greatly facilitate manned aircraft. Consequently, a
data integration and presentation in a significant number of remote perception
form that can be understood by decision applications could rapidly be fulfilled with
makers and provide a tool for exploring this UAV Lighter-than-air technology.
the potential impacts of different policy
interventions. However, it is desirable to Additional to technological benefits,
find decision-support tools that perform these systems reduce human life
the same mapping activities, but with exposure in long, dull, intrusive and
better cost-benefit conditions for the dangerous air missions for forestry and
FSM challenges previously mentioned in agriculture use. They provide potential
this introduction. economic savings and environmental
benefits with less fuel consumption, less
According to the previous assessment, it greenhouse gas emission, and less
is the purpose of this paper to propose disruptive noise than for manned
the embrace of airship technology as an aircraft.
affordable remote perception and
mapping platform in accordance with Given the economic constrains, the
Latin American boundary conditions procurement of an unmanned airship
given by the economic and ecological system is facilitated by the low required
circumstances. financial outlay and the less
sophisticated payload requirements
The use of small unmanned helium (when compared to military and manned
airships for remote perception in forest aircraft) despite the lower training
and agriculture industry can represent a burden for forestry and agro-forestry
viable option capable to efficiently operators.
complement satellites, offering an
excellent reactivity and a more
permanent availability to the relevant
environment specialists.
These unmanned airships will bridge the These Small Unmanned airships can be
gap between what can be measured by widely used for additional monitoring of
satellites and what is measured at static wildlife and nature observation, and
ground-based, research stations. They reveal excellent capabilities in support of
are easy to transport, relatively simple to the SFM policies and actions by the use
3

4. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
of hyper-spectral imagers ranging the 2 DESIGN
VNIR (Visible and Near Infrared 400 - In order to conduct highly dependable
1000 nm) and SWIR (Short- flight operations in harsh forestry
Wavelength Infrared 900 - 1700 nm) environments at different altitudes
spectrum. These cameras have a world- ranging from 0 – 9000 feet above sea
wide use in various manned and level, the technical characteristics of the
unmanned environment projects. They small unmanned airships are planned as
represent the most growing technology follows:
tools in remote perception techniques to
identify spectral features that are related
to water stress, nutrient deficiency and • 3 small airships versions ranging
pest infestation, among many other 7.8 m – 14m long, 3.0m,
biophysical characteristics. maximum diameter.
• Equipped with 4 control rudders
in a ``X shape'' configuration.
Relaying the experience gained in • 2 electric motors power plant as
Mexico during the last years with RPV main thrusters providing a
Small Airships, Unmanned Aerial maximum speed 45 km/h,
Vehicles and GNC (Guidance, decreasing in wind gusts to
Navigation and Control) techniques, it 25 km/h. One Electric motor as
was decided to create in a true stern propulsion thruster for Yaw
interdisciplinary spirit, a teaming with control at low speeds is optional
biologists, agriculture researchers, depending upon versions and
environmental engineers, airship missions requirements.
experts, forestry technicians, renewable • Flight endurance: 1- 2 hours with
energy experts, institutes, companies 25Km/h cruising speed.
and UAV professionals in different • Maximum available payload
countries as Mexico, Spain, USA, prospected to 8 kg (18 lb).
Canada and Ecuador to create an • Two envelopes in the airship hull
airship technology test-bed body. Inner envelope works as
demonstrator in the next years serving pressure-resistant gas helium
the agriculture and forestry community bag.
in Latin America region with commercial • Semi rigid configuration with
and industry standards. outer envelope engineered to
maintain rigidity necessary for
the integration of solar cell array,
This airship project is believed to be a gondola, stern thruster and
successful technology development rudders in the airship.
consortium that brings recent advances • Flight range according to
in ultra-lightweight fabrics, composites, electrical propulsion system
thin-film solar cells and unmanned (25Km/hr cruise speed) and
control techniques, to create a small autopilot capabilities is
unmanned airship as outlined in this calculated for 5Km (3 Miles).
paper to become a viable decision-
support tool for agro-forestry
communities and environment protection
organizations in Latin America. Figure 2 overviews the main Systems in
the small unmanned airship vehicle
design.
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5. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
The onboard GNC (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 will be designed
under a R&D program starting with the
creation of control algorithms for the
Fig.2: Small airship main systems unmanned airship in accordance to
and airship design. efficient operational qualities for agro-
forestry operators and portable Ground
The operational requirements for the Control Stations.
unmanned small airship will be designed
under a logistic hierarchical plan These control algorithms will be tested
executed under a mandatory flight using dynamic simulations through
operations center, considered to be MATLAB – SIMULINK software. These
implemented in the GCS (Ground simulations will identify potential errors
Control Station) System. This system before carrying out any hardware
will provide coordination, monitoring and development, and therefore reducing
control of all systems of the UAVs small greatly development costs [5]
airship versions as well as weather
forecast, computerized strategies and Some of the simulations activities will be
emergency operations [4]. the following:
• Dynamics of the aircraft
• Guidance and navigation
• Control System
3 OPERATIONAL FEATURES • external disturbances (wind, etc ...)
3.1 GNC Guidance, Navigation and The research outputs from these
Control. simulations will be the following:
The GNC (Guidance, Navigation and
Control) system provides an autopilot • Determine primary control
capability to the airship, so that its flight equations.
path meets the high-level objectives • Autopilot dynamics simulations
commanded by the forestry and and control system response to
agriculture operators. This system also perturbations.
gathers state and flight conditions • Response of different versions
information from itself and all other sub- platforms to changes in the
systems, and transmits that data in a control system.
telemetry stream back to the GCS
(ground control station). When the Previous experience in Unmanned
telemetry data is received by the GCS, it Aerial Vehicles platforms by the Spanish
is displayed to the operator via user- and Mexican research companies and
configurable, customized displays. This partner institutes in the consortium have
feedback loop enables the operator to allowed the input of new control theories
monitor the overall airship performance in airship technology giving a GNC
and then issue commands as necessary (Guidance, Navigation and Control)
according to the pre-programmed flight system project enrichment. Other
mission. engineering partners in Ecuador have
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6. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
gained in recent years valuable • Latitude, longitude and altitude
experiences in airship projects, GNC from the GPS system on board.
systems as well as unmanned vehicles. • Latitude, longitude and altitude
They will provide many on-site tests and from the Kalman filter.
research outputs at different altitudes • Airship’s Euler angles.
above sea level in their region and will • Acceleration.
take a design in the simulation loop for • Angular velocity.
the electric propulsion management • Airship’s magnetic bearing.
algorithms. • Static Pressure.
• Dynamic pressure (Pitot-Tube)
The entire GNC system and Payload
according to airship’s
management control system will be
performance at low speeds.
embedded in an on-board rugged high
performance “node” PC from the
Nematron Corporation Company
showed in fig. 3.
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.
Fig. 3: Rugged High Performance • Points of programmed path on
"Node" Industrial PC model nc100 the route or planned mission
Photo courtesy of Nematron
Corporation, Michigan, USA. 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
3.2 GROUND CONTROL STATION when available at mission’s localities.
Since the small unmanned airship
development intended must be practical In order to obtain the best energy
and easy to operate, the operator’s budget control in an automated version,
interface will have a custom design the Ground Control Station and on-
based in portable and rugged Ground board energy management system will
Control Stations. be designed under the most advanced
hardware and HMI (Human Machine
The design and development of the Interface) in the industry. The Red Lion
ground control station is carried out and Nematron Corporation companies
under the graphical programming from USA were selected to provide the
language LABVIEW to display the entire SCADA (Supervisory Control and
following control and status data from Acquisition) system), PLC
the airship’s autopilot, sensors and basic (Programmable Logic Controllers), PC
instrumentation telemetry: embedded Main processors and
Resistive touch screens panels.
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7. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
Figures 4 and 5 show the display The power for these motors is supplied
monitors and HMI hardware interfaces. 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
Fig. 4: Energy Management SCADA protected by a plastic ducted fence
monitors. Photography courtesy of mounted at the end of a bar, which
Red Lion, Inc. 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 reason to opt for electric motors
even when they do not weight more than
fuel engines was mainly the clean
energy factor they provide and Control
qualities for the autopilot system. In
comparison with fuel engines they are
Fig. 5: Roughed portable PC system less powerful, meaning reduction in the
with touch screen monitor for use in maximum reachable speed and the
portable Ground Control Stations. small possibility to fly in wind gusts.
Photography courtesy of Nematron Anyway, the missions foreseen for
Corp. remote perception missions in forestry
and agriculture lands do not require fast
operation speeds but quite and low
vibration flights. Their main drawback is
the weight of the required batteries,
3.3 PROPULSION – ELECTRIC which considerably reduces the
POWER PLANT available payload onboard. Even when
The propulsion will be provided by a battery technology has reached amazing
group of electric brushless motors (2 weight loss options, it is even a major
motors) attached to each side of the factor to overcome in the present
gondola below the center line of the outlined airship project.
airship and controlled by a dedicated
DSP controller module that takes part of
the GNC design. A third electrical motor 3.4 SOLAR POWER ARRAYS
will be installed in the stern portion of “Solar energy is attractive in an
the hull to provide Yaw control under environmentally conscious age. Sunlight
specific maneuvers at low speeds. This is a renewable, free non-polluting and
motor will be driven by the GNC system non-inflammable fuel” (G. Khoury,
as well as the other power plant Airship design, Chapter 16) [6]. Under
equipment and will have a control this concept, the solar power system
algorithm defined under software and cell arrays to be installed in the
simulations and energy management. upper external surface of unmanned
airship’s envelope, will be designed and
constructed in Spain and Mexico by a
7

8. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
couple of private research centers,
taking a screening of the most promising • Stiffness / flexibility and
technologies in photovoltaic solar cell resistance.
arrays based on requirements for the • Low weight.
harsh environments where the Small • General operating conditions as
unmanned airship will be operating. temperature, pressure, cycles of
work, mode of operation,
An analysis of costs and market environmental conditions, etc.
conditions for selected photovoltaic • Permeability / leakage materials.
technology is associated to this • Service Lifetime.
screening program to meet the • Maximum costs (cost/benefit).
requirements of the intended tasks,
considering possible locations of the
solar cells in the unmanned airship that
could be consistent with the specific 3.5 DATA LINK
regional maps of radiation in the forest The Small Unmanned Airship missions
regions where agro-forestry remote require the use of a dependable data
perception operations will be executed. link to control and command the
unmanned GNC (Guidance, Navigation
The target in mind in the research group and Control) system. A second data link
for solar cell arrays is energetic will be installed on-board to down-link
efficiency under limited energy the real-time hyper spectral camera, as
consumption for essential telemetry, well an optional gyro-stabilized payload
payload and GNC (Guidance, video streaming with a telemetry
Navigation and Control) Systems, but wireless sensor network. This WSN
not including the electric power plant (Wireless Sensor Network) could pick-
which as previously stated in this paper, up sensor status signals across the
will require a large amount of electrical forest and agriculture lands under
power only guaranteed by battery monitoring.
systems.
Appropriate high speed Data Link will be
Progress toward the implementation and designed by institutes and companies in
encapsulation of photovoltaic materials Mexico, Spain and USA to ensure that
and their integration into the envelope in maximum benefits shall be provided to
final unmanned airship system assembly the unmanned airship operations with a
has been slow but the first research high level of safety. Previous
outputs found viable application experiences in unmanned aerial
solutions. One of them would be the systems and High Altitude Platforms
thermoplastic or thermosetting polymeric telecommunications programs have lead
materials applied under different the research group to envision and
manufacturing processes as propose highly dependable wireless
thermoforming, resin infusion and technology to be integrated as Data link
bonding. system on board the small unmanned
airship [7].
The cell arrays development program
considers in a step-by-step procedure Standardization and compatibility with
the study results provided by structure broader telecommunications strategies
and stress analyst engineers in the according to the Unmanned Aerial
research group for the selection of Systems trends in the world will be
photovoltaic cells mechanical properties considered as main design criteria from
as following:
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9. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
the start point. Data Link necessary equipment and to introduce wireless
connectivity exists, and the required sensor networks technology.
frequency and bandwidth to control the
unmanned aircraft are available, but the
main fact from this point is to design the This WSN system could enable on-field
entire unmanned system in a worldwide biologists to unobtrusively collect new
wireless normalization and types of data, providing a new decision-
standardization format. support tool for static mapping of
physical conditions along the forest or
According to general operational terms, agriculture lands. The flight operations
the Data Link will operate mainly in the across forestry and agriculture lands
line-of-sight of the unmanned airship additional to obtain imagery and
and in continuous presence of radio mapping through GIS photogram, could
coverage. The knowledge of all flying become a sensor’s status collector in
parameters (down-linked to the control areas previously prepared with sensor
station by telemetry) is essential to nodes in trees, soils, waterways, rivers
ensure the appropriate handling of the and any other biophysical status sensor
airship. In addition, when automatic necessary.
phases of flight are conducted, the pilot
must be able to take over direct control The hardware design of sensor network
of the unmanned airship during take-off nodes and network protocols for forest
and landing stages as well as in the monitoring will be conducted by
case of unexpected or emergency Biologists and telecommunication
situations along the mission path with engineers in research institutes in
radio coverage availability. Mexico, Canada and Spain in order to
obtain a specialized custom technology
An outside line-of-sight operation or test-bed with wide applications
radio coverage lost strategy will relay to capabilities.
the autopilot’s GNC (Guidance,
Navigation and Control) system to
autonomous command the airship for a The principle of operation of this system
“back home” maneuver and tracking the is based under the assumption that the
aircraft position in real time under small unmanned airship operations
emergency RF signal beacons. This will along the mission corridors established
help the operators in the GCS (Ground in environment monitoring programs will
Control Station) to track and maintain provide the opportunity to collect
command of the aircraft under different through wireless telemetry, sensed data
emergency conditions. and re-transmit to the field biologists this
information during flight visits to its
Figure 6 shows an overview of the entire coverage areas. Collected data also will
Data Link system and a WSN (Wireless be stored in the on-board database
Network System) system. server, which will serve the user's
management software queries. Users
will be able to access a real-time display
3.5.1 WIRELES SENSOR NETWORK of forest information and also
As mentioned before in the Data Link dynamically interact with the wireless
description, there is a practical approach sensor network through the Ground
for a type of forest monitoring system Control Station Mission management
solution in a telemetry format to improve software.
the presence of the monitoring
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10. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
The sensing devices that can be encountered in the forest monitoring
installed on individual trees or activities. This hyper spectral imaging
agriculture and forestry soils are the instrument, built by the company
following: Headwall Photonics Inc. (Fitchburg MA,
USA), has a totally-reflective, aberration-
• CO2 sensor. corrected concentric imager design with
• Humidity and temperature an f/2.8 optical aperture, covering
sensors. spectral ranges in the VNIR- Visible
• Pressure sensor. and Near-Infrared (400 - 1000 nm) and
• Soil moisture sensors. in the SWIR-Short-Wavelength
Infrared (900 - 1700 nm). The
Figure 6 shows the wireless sensor aberration-corrected, concentric imager
network and its associated displays design delivers extremely low distortion
through the Data Link system. over an exceptionally large Field of
View, a large aperture for high signal to
noise ratio (SNR), and very low stray
light for accurate radiometric
measurements, all very critical
specifications in a spectral imaging
instrument. The fully-integrated Micro-
Hyperspec™ (Fig 7) Imaging
Spectrometer model weighs 2.2 lbs
including fore optic lens and 2-D
camera.
In the other hand, the weight of the
additional technical equipment mounted
on the payload port is a critical
Fig. 6: Data Link and Wireless Sensor constraint expected to become around
Network. 10 lb including shock resistant fanless
Industrial PC built by the Nematron
3.6 PAYLOAD - HYPERSPECTRAL Corporation Company, the Data Link
CAMERA equipment as well as associated power
The small unmanned airship will employ supplies and batteries for the support of
spectral imaging techniques to identify the hyper spectral payload tasks.
spectral features that are related to
surveys of forest and agriculture land,
obtaining high spatial, spectral, and
temporal resolution imagery from
biophysical parameters as water stress,
nutrient deficiency, pest infestation in
woodland and soils as many others.
In order to obtain this data acquisition
and image sequence into the system’s
payload port, the research group
conducted an evaluation trial for the
selection of a very small, lightweight,
and robust hyper spectral imaging Fig 7: Micro-Hyperspec™ Imaging
instrument capable of being deployed in Spectrometer. Photography, courtesy
harsh environments such as those of Headwell Photonics, Inc.
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11. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
airworthiness of the system for the
4 CONCLUSIONS intended unmanned operations.
The small unmanned helium airship
could be considered as a “flying robot”.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (or UAVs)
However, we are far from being able to
can fly in segregated air space as well
design actual lighter-than-air
as in non-segregated air space. When
autonomous flying machines with highly
flying in non-segregated air space, they
developed and reliable artificial
shall do so with the same safety
intelligence. This project in terms of
guarantees as manned aircraft. This is
unmanned aerial vehicles systems is a
therefore an issue with multiple
new opportunity to increase autonomous
dimensions, such as legal, regulatory
tasks for airships platforms. Despite,
and certification, which need to be
“unmanned” term might give the wrong
addressed globally therefore not in
idea that there is no “flight crew” or “no
isolation one from the others. [7]
man in the loop”, the human part of the
operation will be the main aspect in the
flight/mission tasks. Furthermore, the In Latin America, UAV/AUS regulations
“man in the loop” for remote perception are a very unclear subject, but the
activities will be mainly the field project outlined in this paper means an
biologists, the agriculture and forest opportunity to open discussions about
technicians and the ecologists that know the way to introduce new
really “what to see” in environmental standardizations for lighter-than-air
terms and “what to look for” in spectral unmanned aerial vehicles in the region.
imagery terms. The autonomous ability
inherent to the small airship through its
autopilot system and GNC system will Despite technical, administrative and
assist mainly the operators to conduct budgeting issues, the proposed small
easer and more precise operations and unmanned airship project under
to reduce work load activities in a highly consortium model in different countries
dependable control loop from the is a great opportunity to expand the
Ground Control Station. lighter-than-air technology knowledge in
Latin America with an environmental,
technological and social deep impact.
Another important aspect to solve in this
project will be the legal and regulatory
implications with civil authorities like
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration),
DGAC (Dirección de Aviación Civil, in
spanish –General Direction of Civil “If you have built castles in the air, your
Aeronautics, in English) in Mexico and work need not be lost; that is where they
other aviation regulatory organisms as should be. Now put the foundations
ICAO (International Civil Aviation). under them” -
Henry David Thoreau, American author,
Generally speaking, if we want to get poet, naturalist, historian and
airborne the small unmanned airship in philosopher.
a commercial sustainable mode, first we
need to get the corresponding
certificates and/or permits, and one of
them is the one that certifies the
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12. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6 REFERENCES
• I express my gratitude to the [1]National Forestry Commission
National Council for Science and http://www.conafor.gob.mx/bibliotec
Technology (CONACyT) of a/Inventario-Nacional-Forestal-y-de-
Mexico [9] for its funding and Suelos.pdf El Inventario Nacional
technical support to airships and Forestal y de Suelos de México
unmanned vehicles programs in 2004-2009. Una herramienta que
previous years. Without the da certeza a la planeación,
Mexican government policies to evaluación y el desarrollo forestal
support science, technology and de México.
innovation, this research project
could not be possible. [2]http://www.unep.org/geo/. United
Nations Environment Programme.
• I acknowledge with gratitude the
Global Environment Outlook.
valuable help of biologists from
the Institute of Ecology AC of
[3]Toward Integrated Analysis of
Mexico, INECOL [10] for their
Human Impacts on Forest
valuable engagement, advice,
Biodiversity: Lessons from Latin
and review of various materials
America. Copyright © 2009 by the
to help me understand the
author(s). Published here under
environmental problems faced in
license by the Resilience
Mexico and Latin America and to
Alliance.Newton, A. C., L. Cayuela,
help me take my project involved
C. Echeverría, J. J. Armesto, R. F.
in the environment conservation.
Del Castillo, D. Golicher, D.
• I want to express sincere Geneletti, M. Gonzalez-Espinosa,
appreciation for the intense and A. Huth, F. López-Barrera, L.
dedicated work performed by the Malizia, R. Manson, A. Premoli, N.
funders, members and Ramírez-Marcial, J. Rey Benayas,
collaborators of the International N. Rüger, C. Smith-Ramírez, and G.
Airship Association to promote Williams-Linera. 2009. Toward
the airship technology. Their integrated analysis of human
advice and enthusiasm are impacts on forest biodiversity:
invaluable for Latin American lessons from Latin America.
airship researchers. Ecology and Society 14(2): 2.
[online] URL:
• I would like to express my http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/v
gratitude to the Western ol14/iss2/art2/
Hemisphere Information
Exchange, especially to Ricardo
Arias from the Science & [4]Jurgen Bock, Airships to the Arctic V
Technology Stability directorate Symposium, Calgary, Canada,
of the U.S. Southern Command 2009. “Lay-out of an LTA cargo
for their support to my research carrier for autonomous operation”, p
activities thorough the invitation 12-21.
to join conferences and forums
devoted to unmanned vehicles
systems and environmental
projects in Latin America [11].
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13. Paper 19 Adrian Peña Cervantes
[5]Roy Langton, “Stability and Control
of Aircraft Systems Introduction to
Classical Feedback Control”,
Aerospace Series-Wiley.
[6]Airship Technology, Edited by
Gabriel A. Khoury and J. David
Gillett, Cambridge University Press
1999
[7]Cuevas Ruiz-José Luis, Aragón-
Zavala Alejandro, Delgado-Penin
Jose Antonio. “High-Altitude
Platforms for Wireless
Communications”, Wiley, first
Edition 2008
[8]International Civil Aviation
Organization – Information paper
www.icao.int/anb/panels/acp/wg/f/...
/acp-wgf18ip08_eads_rev%201.doc
ACP-WGF 18/IP08 12/05/08.
[9] The National Council for Science
and Technology of Mexico
(CONACyT) URL:
http://www.conacyt.gob.mx/
[10]INECOL Institute of Ecology AC,
Mexico.
http://www.inecol.mx/index.php/engl
ish
[11]Latin America Fuel and &
Unmanned Vehicles Conference.
Panama City, December 2009.
http://www.arc.fiu.edu/WHIXConfere
nce/Default.aspx
13