Hi all,
I am proposing a conservation project for sampling a plant species (Echeveria laui which can grow up to 25 cm in diameter, but I would also need to find seedlings that may be 1 cm in diameter) that is endangered using a drone. I would like to count the number of leaves or the size of the plant every year to observe growth and survival rates. The plant grows in canyons with complex surfaces (different slopes (90, 45, 110 degrees slope), different orientations, etc) and some parts may have low vegetation, so I would think it would be neccesary to take pictures like 2-5 or 10 meters from the canyon wall. Therefore, I have a couple of questions to evaluate if the project would be feasable:
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Can I use the PIX4D software for planning the flight at such close distances from the canyon wall? I do not know if this kind of software can be able to create a flight plan with such a precise latitude, longitude and elevation data so that I could use the flight plan to re-sample the same area on the next year. If not, I was thinking on manually flying the drone and take pictures. I would also think that I should try to plan the flight to obtain a high overlap between pictures because of the low flying altitude I would use.
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Could it be possible to obtain images very close from the canyon wall (2-10 meters) and use PIX4Dmapper to make 3D models or orthomosaics to sample plant individuals?
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Can I use the DJI mini 3 pro drone for doing this task or should I use another DJI drone (mavic or phantom)?
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If it is possible to make 3D models or orthomosaics as I described above for different years, is there an optimal way to observe differences between plant individuals in the models constructed in two different years to compare plant growth and survival rates between years or should I compare them manually by looking at the the two models generated?
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Is there a way in the software to know the GPS position or tag in a certain way plants from the 3D model or orthomosaic generated so that I can know in the next year model that I am sampling the same individual and obtain growth and survival per individual?
Any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks