ABSTRACT
Aerial thermography is both a challenging and rewarding field of study, combining two distinct areas of expertise—UAV piloting and thermography—into a single planned mission. As such, it often requires a diverse team with expertise in flight operations, thermal data collection, mapping, imagery post-processing, and data management. As the cost of acquiring UAVs and thermal cameras continues to rapidly drop, this technology is quickly undergoing further democratization and widespread use. While an effort has been made in this chapter to cover both breadth of thermal applications and the depth of a particular use case, the applications of this technology are nearly limitless. The reader is encouraged to seek out additional resources—a wealth of training and research materials are published each year by camera manufacturers such as FLIR (www.flir.com) and Workswell (www.drone-thermal-camera.com). Standards such as those published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM, www.astm.org) are also an excellent resource for those interested in learning more about this exciting and ever-changing field.
