Release of Sterile Mosquitoes with Drones in Urban and Rural Environments under the European Drone Regulation

In recent years, several countries have developed the use of sterile insect techniques (SIT) to fight against mosquitoes that transmit diseases. From a technical and economic point of view, the use of drones in the aerial release of sterile mosquitoes leads to important improvements in aerial covera...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García, Manuel, Maza Alcañiz, Iván, Ollero Baturone, Aníbal, Gutiérrez, Daniel, Aguirre, Idoia, Viguria Jiménez, Luis Antidio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/131434
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/131434
https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031250
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mosquitoes’ control
Drones
Drone regulation
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
U-space
SORA methodology
Sterile insect technique (SIT)
Descripción
Sumario:In recent years, several countries have developed the use of sterile insect techniques (SIT) to fight against mosquitoes that transmit diseases. From a technical and economic point of view, the use of drones in the aerial release of sterile mosquitoes leads to important improvements in aerial coverage and savings in operational costs due to the requirement of fewer release sites and field staff. However, these operations are under the European drone regulation, one of the most advanced in the world. The main contribution and novelty of this paper with respect to previous work is the analysis of the SIT application with drones under the European risk-based regulation in two scenarios: urban and rural areas. The specific operations risk assessment (SORA) methodology has been applied to assess the risk of drone operations in these scenarios. The paper presents the operational requirements for aerial release of mosquitoes with drones along with the regulatory considerations that must be applied. Finally, an overview of the conditions in operation that could relax risks and mitigation measures is also discussed.