ISSN: 2641-2039 DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.

000759

Global Journal of
Engineering Sciences

Research article Copyright © All rights are reserved by Shencan LU

Drone Education, Research and

Application

Subash Ghimire*
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Nepal

*Corresponding author: Subash Ghimire, Department of Geomatics Engineering, Received Date: July 13, 2023
Kathmandu University, Nepal. Published Date: July 31, 2023

Abstract
Kathmandu University (KU) is playing an important role in drone education, research and applications. This paper aims to strengthen the existing
drone education and research activities and draw attention of all national and international drone community for their contributions to promote
drone education, research and application in Nepal. This paper also deals with the application of drones, challenges and opportunities and the efforts
made by KU to become a leader in the drone sector. The economic growth of any country involves effective surveying and mapping. This requires
highly skilled and knowledgeable human resources and output oriented drone education, research and application. To make drone education, a
leader courses in Nepal and also within the region in the future, KU has to overcome many challenges. Some challenges may be addressed at the
national level, but some require collaboration and cooperation from an international level. Finally, drone education, research and its application help
to develop quality drone professionals which in turn may incorporate the entire South Asia region as a potential drone market. KU is committed to
developing a center of excellence in drone education and research.
Keywords: Drone; Education; Research; Application

Introduction
areas through quality education but also develop as a center of ex-
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also referred to as drones,
cellence. Long term presence of the university is also intended to
equipped with various kinds of advanced detecting or surveying
benefit the local communities in terms of development of small-
systems, are effective and low-cost in data acquisition, data delivery
scale business and community services. Under the University, there
and sharing [1]. Kathmandu University (KU) is playing an import-
are seven schools: School of Engineering, School of Management,
ant role in capacity building of drone activities. It was established
School of Science, School of Arts, School of Medical Sciences, School
in November 1991 as an autonomous, non for profit, non-govern-
of Education and School of Law. Departments are headed by the
ment, dedicated to maintaining high standards of academic excel-
school. Currently, the Geomatics Engineering program lies under
lence, public institution through private initiative. The university is
the Department of Geomatics Engineering (DGE) within the um-
committed to develop leaders in professional areas through quality
brella of School of Engineering of Kathmandu University. Drone
education with the vision “To become a World Class University de-
education research and its application in various programs of the
voted to bringing knowledge and technology to the service of man-
Department of Geomatics Engineering is discussed in the following
kind”. It is committed not only to develop leaders in professional
subsections.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 1 of 6
 Global Journal of Engineering Sciences Volume 11-Issue 2

Undergraduate program Hyper Spectral Remote Sensing, Location Based Services (Mobile
and Web), Application of Unmanned Aerial Systems, Geospatial
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E) in Geomatics Engineering at
Data Mining, Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction, Urban
Kathmandu University includes the courses on Surveying, GIS, re-
Planning and Management, Geo-information Science and Gover-
mote sensing, various geospatial programming, SDI, Engineering
nance, Spatial Engineering in Agriculture and Forestry, 3D Geoin-
projects, internship etc. This program also contains a photogram-
formatics. All of these subjects are for 3 credit hours.
metry course of 4 credit hours including drone applications. The
general contents of the course are optics of photogrammetry, Pho- Doctor of philosophy
tography and processing of aerial photography, Human eye and ste-
The PhD related with drone on “Monitoring Rice Cropland and
reoscopic vision, Basic photogrammetry, Aerial Camera, Terrestrial
Yield Estimation using multi-sensor, multi-templar datasets and
photogrammetry, Aerial photography Planning, Analogue photo-
Citizen Science Approach is registered in 2019 at Department and
grammetric process orientation, Aerial triangulation, Aerial Photo
is carried out in collaboration between University of Melbourne,
interpretation, Mapping and Digital photogrammetry.
Australia and Kathmandu University, Nepal.
Graduate program
Labs at Kathmandu University
The subjects that are offered ME_MS in Geoinformatics pro-
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University
gram at Kathmandu University includes Introduction to Survey-
has Geospatial Lab, Photogrammetry Lab, High Processing Com-
ing and Geoinformation, Remote Sensing, Geo-visualization & Ad-
puting Lab, CORS Station, Survey Lab, Workshop lab, computer lab,
vanced Cartography, Geo-statistics, Spatial analysis and Modeling,
electrical lab, science lab and video conferencing labs. The lab ac-
Acquisition and Exploration of Geospatial data, Digital Image Pro-
tivities are also conducted in cooperation with other departments
cessing, Research Methods and Skills, Problem Assessment Project
and schools at KU.
and Thesis.
Geospatial lab
The following subjects are offered as electives. Scientific
Geo-computing, Spatial Decision Support System for Land Use Plan- The earthquake building damage assessment using UAV was
ning and Environment Management, Spatial Data Infrastructures / conducted by Geospatial lab of Department of Geomatics Engineer-
OpenGIS, Geoinformation Project Management and Organization, ing (Figure 1).

Figure 1: UAV mapping.

The study was carried out by Department of Geomatics Engi- sembled hex copter as a sensor carrier for serving the purpose.
neering in Kuttab village of Dublike municipality, and Panga and Ti-
Photogrammetry lab
ago of Kantipur municipality of Nepal on devastating earthquake on
April 25th, 2015. The team used emerging technology of Unmanned This lab has following instruments DJI Phantom 3 Advanced – 6
Aerial Vehicle, which the Geospatial Lab has been using for the Bio- and has problem with gimbal (adjust the position of the camera)
mass Estimation Research Project here at Kathmandu University. and camera sensor and GPS embedded, Hex copter - 1 having prob-
The team collected the aerial images of these places with the Sony lem with the rotor, DJI Mavic 2 Pro- 4 in working condition and Mul-
Digital Camera mounted on the UAV. The team deployed a self-as- tispectral drone (Figure 2).

Citation: Subash Ghimire*. Drone Education, Research and Application. Glob J Eng Sci. 11(2): 2023. GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 2 of 6
DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.000759.
 Global Journal of Engineering Sciences Volume 11 -Issue 2

Figure 2: Drone certificates of registration.

High processing computing lab Drone Research Projects

HPC has been installed at Kathmandu university. Supercom- Completed projects
puter consists of high-performance computing (HPC) servers and
The following are the completed drone research project at De-
is donated by CERN based in Switzerland. Supercomputer has 184
partment of Geomatics Engineering
CPU servers, 16 disk servers and 12 network switches with a total
processor count of over 2,500 and 8 TB of memory [2]. a. Estimation of Above Ground Forest Biomass and Carbon
Stock Using UAV Images funded by NASA through ICIMOD:
Training and Workshop The Geospatial Lab at the Department of Geomatics Engineer-
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University ing had used UAV and VISNIR sensor mounted on the UAV for
and Cadaster International, the Netherlands jointly organized an above forest biomass estimation. The field work was carried
international workshop on Flight 4 Purpose in Nepal on 26 July out at Brandisher Protected Forest of Chitwan district. The area
2019 at Kathmandu University, Dublike. In the technical session, covered for the pilot test was approximately 0.5 sq km. The im-
the discussion was made on international practices of UAV, histori- age processing and geo mosaicking and orthophoto generation
cal background, legal framework and role of CAAN etc. The partici- were carried out. Besides, capturing VISNIR images, positional
pants of the workshop were KU faculties, LMTC staff, officials from values of artificial markers placed for Ground Control Points
Survey Department, Ministry of Land Management, Co-operatives (GCPs) were also measured using DGPS. Further, tree specific
and Poverty Alleviation and Geomatics Engineering III year and data like tree height, DBH, and tree species, among several oth-
Fourth students at Kathmandu University. Kathmandu University ers were also collected for 11 sample plots selected randomly
(KU) and We Robotics jointly organized a 3-day UAV training at KU within the area.
from September 6 to 8, 2016. Thirty participants from Kathmandu
b. Maize Biomass Estimation Using Images from Unmanned
University, Department of Urban Development and Building Con-
Platform using Consumer Grade RGB Camera funded by UGC
struction (DUDBC), International Centre for Integrated Mountain
and The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Development (ICIMOD), Med AIR, Rural Development Initiative
(CIMMYT): Department of Geomatics Engineering (DGE) had
(RDI), Nepal Geomatics Engineering Society (NGES) and Robotics
investigated maize health through NDVI camera mounted on
Association of Nepal (RAN) learned applications of UAVs, flying
a multi-rotor UAV at different crop growth stages. Along with
skills, data capturing as well as image processing.
health monitoring, DGE:

Citation: Subash Ghimire*. Drone Education, Research and Application. Glob J Eng Sci. 11(2): 2023. GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 3 of 6
DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.000759.
 Global Journal of Engineering Sciences Volume 11-Issue 2

• Computes the vegetation indices and finds out the rela- Agriculture at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel to carry out
tionship between vegetation indices and soil nutrients. cannabis surveying and mapping.

• Identify the dragging factors like pests, weeds, fertilizers Kathmandu Valley Mapping: There is a significant drop in
deficiency or excess and prepare the prescription map to im- air-traffic and gradual improvement of air-quality and visibility
prove the crop health. within Kathmandu due to the limitations on-road travel, and phys-
ical movement. UAV mapping had been carried out and in the stage
DGE had used spreading wings UAV (Hexa-copter) with multi-
of processing the UAV images. The collaborations between various
spectral sensor (Sony Alpha A6000 VIZ-NIR camera) subjected to
organizations are being made through Multipartite MoU which in-
monitor the health of maize plant. The study area includes 18 plots
cludes Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu Univer-
located at Banshari covering an area of about 4000 sq. m. near to
sity, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
Kathmandu University. Total station survey was carried out to lo-
(ICIMOD), Airlift Nepal Pvt. Ltd., Drone pal, Nixa Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
cate individual plot boundaries and evenly distribute the GCPs for
Flying Labs and Pathway Technologies and Services Pvt. Ltd.
post processing images acquired using the hexa-copter. Geo-located
soil samples were taken from every plot and tested for various soil Challenges Opportunities and Way Forward
nutrients. Soil Maps showing the distribution of nutrients – nitro-
Availability of drone and software related with drone image
gen, potassium, phosphorous have been prepared based on the test
processing, faculty expansion visiting experts (national/interna-
result. DGE conducted flight recently on 27th May 2015 using RGB
tional) on drones, knowledge exchange programs relating to drone,
camera for instance. DJI Ground Station is used for flight planning.
expansion of further higher education and drone job market are the
The circular red colored hard paper was placed on the top of GCPs
major challenges of drone education and research at Department of
to make it distinctly visible in the image. Later on, these GCP mark-
Geomatics Engineering in Kathmandu University. There are ample
ers were used for geo-referencing images followed by mosaicking.
opportunities for the Department of Geomatics Engineering to be-
Plant counting and DSM generation were performed.
come a center of excellence in drone education and research. Insti-
On the next flight, DGE used VIZ-NIR camera. The images cap- tutions like UT/ITC, University of Salzburg, Austria, Yeliz Technical
tured in NIR, Red and Green were extracted, and post processing University, Turkey, ICIMOD, private and government agencies are
operation (geo-referencing and mosaicking) was carried out. Af- willing to support Department of Geomatics Engineering to achieve
ter mosaicking images, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index its goal [3]. The Department of Geomatics Engineering has expec-
(NDVI) map was prepared which provides preliminary insight of tations for expert advice from the national and international drone
the plant condition. NDVI is the indicator of greenness/health/sta- community. There is also an opportunity to lead as drone knowl-
tus of the plant whose value ranges from -1 to +1 evaluated using edge/data hub in the country.
NIR and Red band. The value near to 1 represents good health and
Department of Geomatics Engineering has plan for an expan-
greenness of the plant whereas the value near to 0 or negative in-
sion of the programs (MS by Research in drone), strengthening ac-
dicates poor health or harvesting stage. The greenness is directly
ademia & community /industry relationship, exploring new drone
linked with the chlorophyll content in the plant leaves.
research projects and conducting national and international drone
NDVI computed and the soil sampa particular were correlated workshop/seminar/ conferences in collaboration other organiza-
to develop regression equation which then helps to determine soil tions [4-7].
nutrition at particular location based on the NDVI value. Thus, nu-
trition prescription maps can be produced which can be prescribed Conclusion
to farmers guiding to apply fertilizers at right time, right place and The development of qualified human resources in the field of
at right way. This helps increase profitability and sustainability, im- drones has become necessary. Drone education has become an
proved product quantity/quality, effective and efficient pest man- emerging field as it directly deals with surveying and mapping. KU
agement, water and soil conservation as well as reduced adverse in collaboration with LMTC is playing a crucial role for drone edu-
effect on farmers and consumer’s health. cation and research. To become a center of excellence in Nepal and
Research project also within the region in the future, KU has to grab the opportuni-
ties and overcome the challenges. Some of the challenges could be
The following are the research project at Department of Geo- addressed at the national level but some require cooperation and
matics Engineering collaboration from the international level. Therefore, it is essential
Cannabis surveying and mapping: Cannabis is the most com- to draw attention of all national and international drone communi-
mon weed plants in Nepal and are used to address digestive prob- ty for their contributions to promote drone education and research
lems in cattle, however, recreational use of the plant is common in Nepal.
throughout the country. Government has deemed sales and usage Acknowledgement
of Cannabis as illegal. There is a huge discussion that economic
loss due to COVID 19 can be recovery from Cannabis. Kathmandu The author highly acknowledges the contribution of faculties
University is exploring the possibility of Collaboration with Multi- and then research assistants of Geospatial Lab at Department of
dimensional Cannabis Research Centre (MCRC), USA and Faculty of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University for their drone re-
search activities.

Citation: Subash Ghimire*. Drone Education, Research and Application. Glob J Eng Sci. 11(2): 2023. GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 4 of 6
DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.000759.
 Global Journal of Engineering Sciences Volume 11 -Issue 2

Conflict of Interest 3. Ghimire S (2019) Capacity Development and Education outreach

in Geoinformatics and Land management: A case of Department of
None. Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University.
4. (2022) Kathmandu University.
References
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Challenges and Opportunities.
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2. Ghimire S (2020) High Performance Computing (HPC) in Geomatics search_category=2&search_school=1&search_site_name=kusoe.
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Citation: Subash Ghimire*. Drone Education, Research and Application. Glob J Eng Sci. 11(2): 2023. GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 5 of 6
DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.000759.
 Global Journal of Engineering Sciences Volume 11-Issue 2

Citation: Subash Ghimire*. Drone Education, Research and Application. Glob J Eng Sci. 11(2): 2023. GJES.MS.ID.000759. Page 6 of 6
DOI: 10.33552/GJES.2023.11.000759.