Drone TM is an integrated digital public good solution designed to harness the power of the crowd to generate high-resolution aerial maps of any location.
This innovative platform provides drone pilots, particularly in developing countries, with job opportunities while contributing to the creation of high-resolution datasets crucial for disaster response and community resilience.
In low-income and disaster-prone areas, the accessibility to near real-time satellite datasets is severely restricted. High-resolution satellite imagery, when available, is often prohibitively expensive and outdated. Full-scale aircraft mapping is not a viable option due to its high costs and operational complexity. Traditional mapping solutions, relying on professional consultants with expensive equipment, often result in delays and lack of locally relevant data. Existing drone operation tools are mostly proprietary and not designed for large-scale collaborative efforts, limiting their effectiveness for community-driven projects.
Drone TM offers a solution to these challenges by empowering communities to utilize drones for immediate and locally relevant mapping needs. Our platform:
- Provides a user-friendly, inclusive application enabling anyone with a drone, including inexpensive consumer or DIY drones, to contribute to a global repository of free and open aerial imagery.
- Facilitates community-driven drone operations, ensuring immediate response and responsible mapping that considers local needs.
- Coordinates aerial survey activities among multiple pilots through an open-source tasking platform, incorporating tools and processes to ensure coordinated flight plans for effective imagery acquisition.
- Offers a seamless pipeline for processing and dissemination of the collected imagery.
Our vision is to create a platform that is not only accessible and user-friendly but also inclusive, enabling widespread participation in creating high-resolution aerial maps. By leveraging the power of community-operated drones, we aim to build a resilient and responsive solution that addresses the needs of low-income and disaster-prone areas.
- Crowdsourced Mapping: Empower drone pilots to contribute to a global imagery repository.
- Community-Driven Operations: Enable communities to use drones for immediate and locally relevant mapping.
- Open-Source Platform: Coordinate aerial surveys with an open-source tasking platform.
- Seamless Pipeline: Ensure smooth processing and dissemination of imagery data.
- User-Friendly Application: Designed for ease of use, allowing even non-professional pilots to contribute.
To get started with Drone TM:
- Sign Up: Create an account and join our community of project creators and drone pilots.
- Create Projects: Sign up as a project creator to define Area for mapping.
- Start Mapping: Sign up as a drone pilots to use your drone to capture imagery and contribute to our global repository.
Drone TM is an open-source project, and we welcome contributions from the community. Whether you're a developer, a drone pilot, or just passionate about mapping, you can get involved:
- Fork the Repository: https://github.com/hotosm/drone-tm
- Report Issues: https://github.com/hotosm/drone-tm/issues
- Contribute Code: Submit pull requests for new features or bug fixes.
Join us in transforming aerial mapping through community-powered drones and create a resilient future for all.