UAV remote sensing data handling: A transition from testing to long-term data acquisition for intensive forest monitoring

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and their application in intensive forest monitoring is opening up new possibilities for forest research. Recent trials have shown promising results for the extraction of tree parameters and the quantification of phenological observations. Long-term data acquisition strategies require the handling of large amounts of data as well as increased computing performance requirements. This study explores the challenges in transitioning from the testing phase of UAV-based remote sensing technology to a long-term data acquisition scheme capable of handling Big Data by means of robust archiving and processing workflows as well as the incorporation of cloud computing.