This talks is about using autonomous drones for environmental monitoring at scale.

1. Mega-Scale Environmental
Monitoring for Future Smart Cities
Huber Flores
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
1
November 18, 2022, Tartu, Estonia https://dps.cs.ut.ee

2. Drone technology
2
[source] https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/16/sidewalk-robots-smacked-down-in-s-f-
coming-to-san-jose-company/
[source] https://hitek.fr/actualite/pizza-dominos-livrer-drone-_10474

3. Are we living in a smart city?
3

4. Are we living in a smart city?
4
[source] https://delta.ut.ee/en/
Communications
Internet of Things
Data
[source] Pihelo, P., Kuusk, K., & Kalamees, T. (2020). Development and performance assessment of
prefabricated insulation elements for deep energy renovation of apartment buildings. Energies, 13(7), 2020.
[source] https://www.tartu.ee/et/node/11046

5. City view
5
Natural and
recreational
areas
Urban areas

6. City view
6
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaksali_park
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emaj%C3%B5gi
[source] https://www.visitestonia.com/en/emajoe-
city-beach

7. Environmental pollution is a silent killer
7
[source] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-
matters/combatting-epigenetic-effects-outdoor-air-pollution
[source]
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a29503442/
running-has-a-cup-problem/
[source] https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/plastic-
problem/plastic-affect-animals/animals-eat-plastic/
[source]
https://petsitters.org/page/WhyDoesmyCatEatPlasticRe
asonsPrevention
[source] https://www.k9magazinefree.com/my-dog-ate-plastic-bag/
[source] https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63012180

8. Environmental monitoring
8
[source] Motlagh, N. H., Zaidan, M. A., Fung, P. L., Lagerspetz,
E., Aula, K., Varjonen, S., ... & Tarkoma, S. (2021). Transit
pollution exposure monitoring using low-cost wearable
sensors. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and
Environment, 98, 102981.
[source] Hutengs, C., Ludwig, B., Jung, A., Eisele, A., & Vohland,
M. (2018). Comparison of portable and bench-top
spectrometers for mid-infrared diffuse reflectance
measurements of soils. Sensors, 18(4), 993.
[source]
https://acwi.gov/methods/watersensors/field_deploy/examples.ht
ml

9. City view
9
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaksali_park
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emaj%C3%B5gi
[source] https://www.visitestonia.com/en/emajoe-
city-beach
Indicators?

10. City view
10
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaksali_park
[source] https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emaj%C3%B5gi
[source] https://www.visitestonia.com/en/emajoe-
city-beach
Indicators?

11. City view
11

12. Cities are getting bigger
(Mega sizes)
 Increased population
 Urban infrastructure
 Hong Kong
 Melbourne
 Frankfurt
 London
 Helsinki
12
Mega problem

13. 13
[source] https://news.err.ee/1608676510/environmental-board-jogeva-county-silage-
farm-river-pollution-receding
[source]
https://news.err.
ee/1146314/lung
-cancer-mostly-
affects-men-
from-industrial-
regions-of-ida-
viru-county
[source] https://news.err.ee/1608721318/historic-
ship-leaking-fuel-into-parnu-river

14. Autonomous drones
Research challenges
• Sensor data collection
• Data quality and decision making with AI
• Trustworthy operations
• Recurring issues (Energy, Navigation, Localization)
14

15. Autonomous drones
15
[IEEE CEMAG] Mothlagh, N., Irjala, M., Zuniga, A., Lagerspetz,
E., Rantala, V., Flores, H., Tarkoma, S. and Nurmi, P: Towards
Blue Skies: City-scale pollution monitoring using UAVs, IEEE
Consumer Electronics Magazine, 2022.
[IEEE-PC] Z. Yin, M. Olapade, M. Liyanage, F. Dar, A. Zuniga,
N. H. Motlagh, X. Su, S. Tarkoma, P. Hui, P. Nurmi, H. Flores:
Toward City-Scale Litter Monitoring using Autonomous
Ground Vehicles, IEEE Pervasive Computing Magazine
[IEEE-IoT] Flores, H., Motlagh, N. H., Zuniga, A., Liyanage,
M., Passananti, M., Tarkoma, S., ... & Nurmi, P. (2021).
Toward large-scale autonomous marine pollution
monitoring. IEEE Internet of Things Magazine, 4(1), 40-45

16. Autonomous drones
16
[IEEE CEMAG] Mothlagh, N., Irjala, M., Zuniga, A., Lagerspetz, E., Rantala, V., Flores, H., Tarkoma, S. and Nurmi, P: Towards Blue Skies: City-scale pollution monitoring using UAVs, IEEE
Consumer Electronics Magazine, 2022.

17. City view
17

18. City view
18

19. 19
Mega solution

20. Future smart cities
20
[source] https://www.launch-marketing.com/b2b-marketing-dashboard/
Environmental indicators in a city
- Regulatory entities
- Governmental institutions
- NGOs
Autonomous drones collecting
environmental data at city-scale

21. Thank you!
Questions
huber.flores@ut.ee
http://huberflores.com
https://dps.cs.ut.ee
21