Here we lay out the reasons for making a clear plan, and provide a roadmap for getting there with a comprehensive and easy-to-use template.
Effective planning is the cornerstone of a successful kelp drone monitoring workflow. A Kelp Drone Mapping Plan can help clarify your research questions, define the scope of your study area, and identify the data, people, and resources required.
Thoughtful planning also supports respectful and responsible data use by outlining local practices, community values, and expectations around data collection, sharing, and collaboration.
Stage outcomes
The main outcome from this stage is a Kelp Drone Mapping Plan, in which you have answered some key questions around sample collection, data management, collection methods, data storage requirements, sharing and preservation of data, and the roles and responsibilities of project team members.
Kelp Drone Mapping Plan
The Kelp Drone Mapping Plan Template will guide you through a preparatory process for developing your program. The key questions and considerations for each step are outlined below.
To see how this template can be used, you can:
Establishing Objectives
Clear objectives are essential for designing an effective Kelp Drone Mapping Program. They help determine whether drone-based monitoring aligns with your needs, guides program structure, and ensures that the data you collect will support your intended decisions.
This section helps you define the core objective of your Kelp Drone Mapping work, through three questions and some key considerations.
What objectives do you wish to accomplish through kelp monitoring?
The Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) has developed the Kelp Monitoring Conceptual Model and Roadmap, that includes various methodologies, including drones, to help understand where kelp forests are, how they are changing and what the drivers of change are.
Based on your goals, which metrics are appropriate for you to monitor?
Some kelp metrics that you could measure include kelp extent, species, density, and biomass. There are also additional, complementary metrics that you could measure to better understand how they impact kelp forest dynamics.
How do you plan to measure and monitor those metrics?
There are a variety of kelp data collection methods available including satellite imagery, aerial survey, drone imagery, and in-situ studies. To understand whether drones are the correct remote sensing tool for your goals and objectives, please have a look at the Kelp Guidebook.
Survey Design and Field Logistics
This section outlines the resources required to run your program and the practical considerations that shape where, when, and how drone surveys are done.
What resources (people, time, and equipment) do you need?
The Coastal Habitat Mapping Using Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) document, or this Remote Sensing Tools and Methods workshop contains some considerations around setting up a kelp drone program.
Kelp drone mapping is usually conducted by a small team of 2 - 4 people. The length of fieldwork depends on your objectives and the number of sites you wish to map, and can span multiple weeks.
The drone equipment typically costs from a few to several thousand dollars, and there may also be small monthly costs involved for the software tools needed to visualize your data. For considerations around which type of drone to use, and what kind of data it is able to collect, see the Kelp Guidebook. Finally, training or certification requires an upfront investment.
How will you select and define your survey sites?
Site selection should balance ecological or cultural priorities with practical factors like accessibility, sea state, weather exposure, and whether drone operation is permitted in the area. Tools like the NRCAN Drone Site Selection map can help determine safe flight zones. Consider how many sites you need based on your program objectives and analyses you hope to conduct, and make sure each site is small enough to be feasibly captured within a drone’s flight time and battery limits.
When and how often will you conduct drone surveys?
The timing and frequency of flights can play a major role in the quality and usefulness of your data. Tide tables are available from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. OceanConnect offers the ability to accurately find wind speed, cloud cover and precipitation predictions.
What additional or supporting metrics, if any, do you need to collect to meet your project’s objectives?
Measuring the extent, distribution, and species of kelp is valuable. Additionally, understanding what ecological factors are impacting kelp metrics provides opportunities to understand ecosystem dynamics. Supporting metrics that you could collect include for example additional kelp data, physical oceanography, species presence and biodiversity, and human impacts.
Resources
An overview of all the resources that are referenced in the Kelp Drone Mapping Plan Template and that can be used when populating your own plan are listed below.
Next stage
Once you have completed your planning, you will be ready to move on to the data collection stage.
