We are a research association building UAVs at the Warsaw University of Technology and would like to collaborate on a project using drones for researching site-specific approaches to soil management.

We can contribute to the group:
* An aerial mapping platform for land analysis with specific equipment needed for the project
* Performing site surveys with the plane and gathering data for processing

Using UAVs, especially vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), allows for measuring large areas of land (400-900 acres) for different soil characteristics like SOC, soil degradation, or even GHG emissions like CO2 and CH4.
It also allows for easier time-series analysis of the studied site, as compared to field samples or satellite images.

Creating digital photogrammetry maps, NDVI maps and Near-infrared maps of the testing sites could help in measuring the effectiveness of soil management practices on a larger scale.

By collecting data on both a large and smaller scale, then using the laboratory measurements to calibrate the airborne analysis could lead to an innovative and accurate measurement method to be used by farmers on their own terms.

We hope that our experience in building research platforms will help be a productive member of a group and improve soil management on a larger scale.

Please let me know if you would be interested in collaborating and if we could schedule a time to discuss more about potential projects.

Works at the intersection of soil and UAVs:
UAV used to measure soil erosion by quantifying volumetric change at site-specific scale[1]
Extensive Review of UAVs in Orchards [2]
SOC estimation with soil spectroscopy UAV vs Sentinel-2 vs Field Spectroscopy [3]

[1] Benjamin U. Meinen, Derek T. Robinson, Where did the soil go? Quantifying one year of soil erosion on a steep tile-drained agricultural field, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 729, 2020, 138320, ISSN 0048-9697,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138320
[2] Zhang, C., Valente, J., Kooistra, L. et al. Orchard management with small unmanned aerial vehicles: a survey of sensing and analysis approaches. Precision Agric (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-021-09813-y
[3] Biney, J.K.M.; Saberioon, M.; Borůvka, L.; Houška, J.; Vašát, R.; Chapman Agyeman, P.; Coblinski, J.A.; Klement, A. Exploring the Suitability of UAS-Based Multispectral Images for Estimating Soil Organic Carbon: Comparison with Proximal Soil Sensing and Spaceborne Imagery. Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 308. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13020308

All the best,
Richard Szczerba

WUThrust been building UAV platforms over the past 4 years.
In that time, we have built 3 drones, a fixed-wing plane, a quadcopter and a hexacopter for package delivery and car tracking.
We are currently building a UAV drone for photogrammetry and precise spraying of apple orchards with anti-pesticide.
We are based at the Warsaw University of Technology and co
Our website in Polish: https://wuthrust.com/