Innovative Applications of Drone Technology for Lake Management. Ronald Reimink, Freshwater Solutions, LLC and Dennis Wiand, ZeroGravity Aerial

Aerial drone technology is positively impacting many sectors of society, including best practices for lake management, and offers significant advantages over traditional data collection techniques. Drone footage is archivable, conceivably in perpetuity, and can provide future reference for comparison and additional analysis.  Aerial imaging provides an elevated perspective that allows for accurate and quantifiable mapping, and identification of structures not seen from the ground. Drones are also capable of carrying a variety of sensors allowing for capture of a wide range of electromagnetic spectra. Freshwater Solutions, LLC and ZeroGravity Aerial, LLC present innovative applications of aerial drone technology they have developed and utilized to assess lake wide riparian shoreline practices, identify and quantify Eurasian watermilfoil, map lake wide aquatic gardens, assist in chemical and non-chemical control of AIS, rapidly respond to unique and novel lake occurrences, and identify novel heat infrared signatures over compromised septic drain fields. This quickly developing technology will become a staple for managing water bodies globally.

Find more presentations from the 2022 Michigan Inland Lakes Convention here.