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Grant support

This research was funded by the COST Action CA16219 HARMONIOUS-Harmonization of UAS techniques for agricultural and natural ecosystems monitoring. H.A. is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), within the framework of the National Research Programme Sustainable Economy: resource-friendly, future-oriented, innovative (NRP 73), in the InnoFarm project, Grant-Nffi 407340_172433. K.J., Y.M. and M.F.M. were supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Analysis of institutional authors

Juan Arranz, JoseAuthor

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May 12, 2020
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Current Practices in UAS-based Environmental Monitoring

Publicated to:Remote Sensing. 12 (6): 1001- - 2020-03-01 12(6), DOI: 10.3390/rs12061001

Authors: Tmusic, Goran; Manfreda, Salvatore; Aasen, Helge; James, Mike R; Goncalves, Gil; Ben-Dor, Eyal; Brook, Anna; Polinova, Maria; Juan Arranz, Jose; Meszaros, Janos; Zhuang, Ruodan; Johansen, Kasper; Malbeteau, Yoann; de Lima, Isabel Pedroso; Davids, Corine; Herban, Sorin; McCabe, Matthew F

Affiliations

Inst Soil Sci & Agr Res, Ctr Agr Res, Dept Soil Mapping & Environm Informat, Herman Otto Str 15, H-1022 Budapest, Hungary - Author
King Abdullah Univ Sci & Technol, Water Desalinat & Reuse Ctr, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia - Author
Mohammed VI Polytech Univ UM6P, CRSA, Benguerir 43150, Morocco - Author
NORCE Norwegian Res Ctr, Siva Innovasjonssenter, Sykehusvn 21, N-9019 Tromso, Norway - Author
Poliltehn Univ Timisoara, Traian Lalescu 2, Timisoara 300223, Romania - Author
Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Agr Sci, Dept Environm Syst Sci, Grp Crop Sci, Univ Str 2, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland - Author
Tel Aviv Univ, Porter Sch Environm & Earth Sci, Fac Exact Sci, Dept Geog, POB 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel - Author
Univ Basilicata, Dipartimento Culture Europee & Mediterraneo, Architettura, Ambiente,Patrimoni Culturali DiCEM, I-75100 Matera, Italy - Author
Univ Coimbra, Dept Civil Engn, Marine & Environm Sci Ctr, P-3030788 Coimbra, Portugal - Author
Univ Coimbra, Dept Math, P-3001501 Coimbra, Portugal - Author
Univ Coimbra, INESC Coimbra, P-3001501 Coimbra, Portugal - Author
Univ Haifa, Dept Geog & Environm Studies, IL-39105 Haifa, Israel - Author
Univ Lancaster, Lancaster Environm Ctr, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, England - Author
Univ Lancaster, Lancaster Intelligent Robot & Autonomous Syst Ctr, Lancaster LA1 4WA, England - Author
Univ Naples Federico II, Dept Civil Architectural & Environm Engn, Via Claudio 21, I-80125 Naples, Italy - Author
Univ Novi Sad, Fac Sci, Dept Biol & Ecol, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 3, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, ETSI Topog Geodesia & Cartog, Madrid 28031, Spain - Author
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Abstract

With the increasing role that unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are playing in data collection for environmental studies, two key challenges relate to harmonizing and providing standardized guidance for data collection, and also establishing protocols that are applicable across a broad range of environments and conditions. In this context, a network of scientists are cooperating within the framework of the Harmonious Project to develop and promote harmonized mapping strategies and disseminate operational guidance to ensure best practice for data collection and interpretation. The culmination of these efforts is summarized in the present manuscript. Through this synthesis study, we identify the many interdependencies of each step in the collection and processing chain, and outline approaches to formalize and ensure a successful workflow and product development. Given the number of environmental conditions, constraints, and variables that could possibly be explored from UAS platforms, it is impractical to provide protocols that can be applied universally under all scenarios. However, it is possible to collate and systematically order the fragmented knowledge on UAS collection and analysis to identify the best practices that can best ensure the streamlined and rigorous development of scientific products.

Keywords

Effective workflowEnvironmental monitoringGuidelinesUas-based mapping

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Remote Sensing due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 27/200, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary.

This publication has been distinguished as a “Highly Cited Paper” by the agencies WoS (ESI, Clarivate) and ESI (Clarivate), meaning that it ranks within the top 1% of the most cited articles in its thematic field during the year of its publication. In terms of the observed impact of the contribution, this work is considered one of the most influential worldwide, as it is recognized as highly cited. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

And this is evidenced by the extremely high normalized impacts through some of the main indicators of this type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of calculation, already indicate that they are well above the average in different agencies:

  • Normalization of citations relative to the expected citation rate (ESI) by the Clarivate agency: 5.55 (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)
  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 10.42 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 35.52 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-26, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 147
  • Scopus: 173

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-26:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 292.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 292 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 20.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 2 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 15 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Hungary; Israel; Italy; Morocco; Norway; Oman; Portugal; Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Switzerland; United Kingdom.