eNews
#01 2026
Advancing Environmental Observation Through UAV-Based Multi-Sensor Measurements and International Collaboration
By Ameera Yacoob, a PhD candidate hosted by the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
Ameera Yacoob, a PhD candidate hosted by the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) and collaborating with RAL Space (United Kingdom), travelled to the Harwell Campus from 1 to 5 December 2025 as part of her doctoral research, where she engaged with UK collaborators alongside Kathleen Smart (landscape scientist at SAEON and the Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network (EFTEON). The visit formed an exchange within an international partnership focused on advancing cutting-edge drone technology for landscapes of national importance.
Group photograph at the RAL Space facility (left to right): Michelle Hamilton, Kathleen Smart, Tom Snelling, Ameera Yacoob, Melina Zempila, and Connor McGurk.
Ameera Yacoob and Kathleen Smart outside the RAL Space facility during the UK research exchange visit.
At RAL Space, activities centred on intensive technical workshops, system demonstrations and collaborative planning sessions with UK scientists and engineers. These engagements focused on a novel UAV-based sensing platform integrating hyperspectral imaging, LiDAR and coincident irradiance measurements. Direct interaction with instrumentalists strengthened understanding of configuration requirements, data workflows, and field readiness, ensuring the system is operationally suitable for complex mountainous environments.
The exchange was directly aligned with Ameera’s PhD, which examines how multi-scale remote sensing can improve the interpretation of hydrological processes in the Northern Drakensberg, a Strategic Water Source Area. Her research uses UAV observations as an intermediate scale between long-term in situ monitoring and satellite products, with hyperspectral and structural measurements collected across contrasting slopes, vegetation conditions and land-use gradients to characterise spatial heterogeneity rather than produce standalone regional estimates.
UAV platform with integrated payload at the RAL Space facility, showcasing the sensor configuration used for environmental data acquisition.
Connor McGurk demonstrating the UAV system used for advanced Earth observation and environmental monitoring applications.
Beyond system development, discussions explored how UAV observations could be used to interrogate satellite products in heterogeneous terrain, with attention to sources of uncertainty and to scale relationships linking eddy-covariance measurements, UAV imagery, and satellite observations. Drawing on RAL Space’s experience in end-to-end instrument validation, these exchanges informed strategies for using UAV data to identify biases, constrain satellite uncertainty and strengthen interpretation rather than simply increasing spatial resolution.
Overall, the UK visit reinforced the value of sustained international collaboration in advancing South Africa’s environmental observation capability. Knowledge exchange with RAL Space is directly enhancing Ameera’s PhD design and field preparedness. The outcomes will contribute to SAEON’s long-term monitoring objectives by supporting innovative, high-quality data products that inform science, policy, and resilient water management in a changing climate, with clear benefits for nationwide stewardship for future generations.
