Overview

This unit aims to equip students with comprehensive knowledge and practical skills necessary for acquiring, managing, processing, and interpreting data collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones. Upon completion, students will be capable of planning UAV data acquisition missions, processing aerial imagery, and employing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to effectively interpret UAV-derived datasets for practical decision-making.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-August-2026
01-November-2026
Last self-enrolment date
16-August-2026
Census date
01-September-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
22-September-2026
Results released date
08-December-2026

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  1. Explain the concepts, workflows, and technologies involved in UAV-based data acquisition
  2. Plan and evaluate UAV data acquisition missions, considering the technical, operational and regulatory requirements
  3. Effectively manage and process data collected by UAVs using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for use in analysis
  4. Analyse, visualize, and interpret geospatial information for various UAV applications
  5. Critically evaluate the strengths, challenges, and limitations associated with UAV-based data collection and analysis

Teaching methods

All applicable locations

Activity Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)

On-Campus Lecture

 1 12 weeks 12
On-Campus Workshop 2 12 weeks 24
Online Learning Activities 1 12 weeks 12
Unspecified Learning Activities (Independent Learning) 8.5 12 weeks 102
Total     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULOs
Assignment Individual 20 - 40 % 1, 2, 3, 4
Presentation Group 10 - 30 % 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Project Group 20 - 40 % 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Quizzes Individual 10 - 30 % 1, 3, 5

Content

UAV data acquisition workflows

  • Overview of UAV data acquisition technologies and methods
  • UAV data acquisition mission planning and execution

Basis of UAV data processing 

  • Introduction to geospatial analysis platforms such as ArcGIS and QGIS
  • Fundamental of geospatial operations such as buffering, clipping, and clustering
  • Georeferencing, mapping, and visualisation
  • Vector and raster data

Geospatial analysis of aerial imagery  

  • Raster calculation such as normalised difference vegetation index, slope, and aspect
  • Data classification and feature extraction
  • Scenario-based applications and projects such as bushfire risk analysis, flood risk assessment, forestry change detection, location selection, urbanisation planning

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.