
Darjomj : Landing area
As part of the initiative “Drone in Humanitarian Action” CartONG has been deployed in Tajikistan for a challenging mission in support of disaster risk reduction project. Funded by the European Union's DG ECHO and organized with our partner FSD, the mission aimed to map 2 watersheds of ~20km² in the Pamir Mountains.
Barsem Village, devasted by debris flow in July 2015 | Barsem: source of debris flow | Barsem: erosion
The collected data with the Ebees will be used by two partners: FOCUS for Humanitarian Assistance (part of the Agah Khan Agency for Habitat) and the German development agency GIZ for further analysis on erosion, risk reduction training and mapping for villages and study of pasture and land cover vegetation.
Images have been planned to be between 10 cm and 20 cm of resolution in both sites. The outputs are:
Darjomj : data transfer in the evening, and glue maintenance
The context made the mission challenging. Areas for launching and landing the drone were difficult and not adequate, with rocks and slope for many of them. However, the team reinforced by local volunteers was able to catch them in most cases.
This mission has been a lesson learned for everyone involved. Even if we were not the first to do it (DroneAdventure – Matterhorn), we were able to judge and test the capabilities of the Ebee with the effects of high altitude and high wind turbulence in this mountainous environment. Small and light, the Ebees could be transported on men’s back to the flight areas.
Darjomj : Ebee transportation (and tea!)
The flight took place early in the morning, one overnight have then been necessary to be able to map the highest part with good weather conditions.
Barsem : catching the Ebee | Barsem : Last flight planning check before taking off | Darjomj: Flights monitoring
Flying 2 Ebees at the same time, how to feel like in a Control Tower…
And finally, a few statistics on this mission:
You can find additional information on this mission on the official website of the project.