38th Environmental Permitting Summer School

This course has been significantly growing in popularity and is completely redesigned for 2022!  Drone technology has impacted the world in a number of ways and has greatly expanded beyond the capture of high quality aerial video and imagery. The ability of a drone to reach inaccessible or otherwise cost-prohibitive areas has made it a valuable tool that provides on-demand data that is fast, flexible and affordable, and the use cases in the environmental industry are expanding rapidly. This 2-part course of instruction will examine this emerging and quickly evolving industry from the perspective of experts in the technical, and operational and legal aspects of drone utilization.  

In Part 1, drone industry experts will examine the many cutting-edge innovations that utilize drones to support the environmental industry. Used in combination with post-processing software, drone imagery can be upgraded to create accurate 2D maps and 3D models for a myriad of products, including topographic surveys, digital surface models, volumetric calculations and 3D models with photorealistic textures. What new ideas are emerging, and how might advances in edge computing, automation, artificial intelligence, and “big data” analytics propel this technology into the future? Fascinating case studies and amazing aerial videos await you!

Part 2 of the course will shift to the business and regulatory aspects of the industry and the evolving legal landscape governing the use of drones. Since the Federal Aviation Administration has begun approving drone use for commercial applications, the environmental industry is being rapidly advanced by the innovations provided by the use of drone technology. How are the regulators responding? What are the business risks, and how can they be appropriately mitigated? If your business currently utilizes or is considering utilizing drone technology, then this course is for you!