AI-Enabled Aerial Survey Systems for North Australia’s Coastal Zones

This project will integrate CDU’s expertise in UAV long-range survey and artificial intelligence with AIMS’ deep knowledge of northern Australia’s coastal environments. The project’s primary aim is to develop a robust framework enabling the safe and reliable deployment of UAVs to photograph and survey diverse sections of northern Australia’s coastline. Additionally, the project will create an efficient data processing pipeline to rapidly convert the large volumes of imagery and sensor data collected into actionable products for researchers, environmental managers, landowners, and policymakers. These outputs could support multiple applications, such as threatened species management, ecosystem baseline assessment and monitoring, pollution quantification, and mapping coastal change. A key advantage is that a single UAV flight can generate several data products, enhancing cost-effectiveness and insight.