The Aerial Survey Office, Forestry Bureau, Council of Agriculture held the "Press Conference of the Domestic Manufactured Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Delivery Ceremony" this morning (January 7), officially naming the first domestically-manufactured fixed-wing UAV of the Aerial Survey Office "Hawk Eagle", and announcing that the professional aerial photography of the Aerial Survey Office has entered the new era of unmanned operations. Vice Chairman Lee Tuey-chih of the Council of Agriculture (COA) said that UAV or drone aerial photography supplement the operational limitations of the Aerial Survey Office's manned aerial photography, which will make the future aerial photography of the Aerial Survey Office more diversified and more detailed. Chairman Lo Cheng-fang of GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology and manufacturer of "Hawk Eagle" pointed out that the use of GEOSAT's products by the Aerial Survey Office is not only an important milestone in the Taiwanese remote sensing industry, but also bears testament to the reliability and maturity of the Taiwan UAV industry.
The Aerial Survey Office "Press Conference of the Domestic Manufactured Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Delivery Ceremony" took place at the Heping Building of the COA in the morning. VIPs who attended the press conference include Vice Chairman Lee Tuey-chih of the COA, Director Lin Hwa-ching of the Forestry Bureau, Director Kuan Li-hao of the Aerial Survey Office, Chairman Lo Cheng-fang of GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology, Deputy Chief Engineer Chen Chen-yu of the Disaster Prevention Center, Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Senior Specialist Chen Jie-Chung of the Department of Land Administration, MOI, Director Liu Jeng-lun of the National Land Surveying and Mapping Center, Director Lin Chun-liang of the National Space Organization, and Director Kao Tr-shi of the Chinese Commercial Association of Surveying and Mapping.
The press conference announced the fixed-wing UAV adopted for use by the Aerial Survey Office for the first time. Witnessed by the VIPs at the scene, Director Kuan Li-hao of the Aerial Survey Office officially named the domestically-made fixed-wing UAV as "Hawk Eagle". The Aerial Survey Office said that Mountain Hawk-Eagles are one of the largest birds of prey in Taiwan, its habitat is found in the evergreen forests at an altitude of 1000-3000 meters, which also happens to be the operation height of the fixed-wing UAV "Hawk Eagle". This also emphasized the superior performance of the UAV "Hawk Eagle".
Lin Hwa-ching, director of the Forestry Bureau, pointed out that the "Hawk Eagle" fixed-wing UAV is equipped with long hang time, high intelligence, and high altitude navigation features. When used in conjunction with the flight control computer developed by GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology, it can perform Beyond Visual Range (BVR) auto-navigation flight missions. The UAV is equipped with a four-band imagery medium format metric digital camera, the resolution of a single photo is 100 million pixels, and its hang time is up to 4 hours. When other software and hardware devices are incorporated, it can carry out large-scale image data collection of localized areas. He said that the Aerial Survey Office will be receiving two more Hawk Eagle UAVs, where the initial foundation will be based on four UAVs. He hopes that in the future, a drone fleet with more powerful aerial photography capabilities will be established, and that aerial images taken by UAVs can be incorporated into the GIS database of the national conservation ecological network system, which can then be widely used in forestry management such as survey of fire trails, afforestation, and landslides, as well as forest resource investigation and application.
Lo Cheng-fang, chairman of GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology said that although the UAV is small, it comes with everything it needs. It has high mobility and the ability to record high-resolution images under low-altitude clouds. Therefore, the use of UAVs by the Aerial Survey Office will make up for the shortcoming of manned aircrafts, such as the inability to fly low and often being affected by the cloud and mist, enabling aerial photography to be more comprehensive, clearer, and safer. Lo Cheng-fang emphasized that this proves that Taiwan has full capability all the way from research and development of UAVs to production, and it is the concrete result of the government's "domestic production of national aerial vehicles" policy. He believes that in the promotion of the "New Southbound Policy" in the future, it can play a key role in smart agriculture and resource exploration in Southeast Asia.
Vice Chairman Lee Tuey-chih of the COA mentioned in his speech that he has a deep connection with aerial photography, stemming from the fact that his father was a pilot of an O-2 surveillance aircraft in the air force. The O-2 is a surveillance aircraft from the very early days, and the aerial survey technology back in those times cannot be compared to the aerial survey capability of the UAVs nowadays. He believes that the introduction of fixed-wing UAVs by the Aerial Survey Office will pioneer the future of aerial photography. Although the use of UAVs has already been taking place in the field of professional aviation remote sensing for some time overseas, it has only just started in Taiwan. The Aerial Survey Office is a forerunner in this respect, and in future, it will become the most professional unit in the application of UAV in Taiwan. Lee Tuey-chih pointed out that the photos taken by the "Hawk Eagle" fixed-wing UAVs are clear and fast. Although only two of the drones were purchased for the aerial photography mission this time, the COA will continue to assist in planning the UAV procurement budget, in order to enable the Aerial Survey Office to establish a complete drone operation system.
Lee Tuey-chih emphasized that the aerial photography data of the Aerial Survey Office will be of great value to all sectors. For example, some of the major agricultural counties often suffer from agricultural loss caused by natural disasters. During times like this, the aerial photography data accumulated by the Aerial Survey Office will be needed for analysis, this will allow the COA to have an accurate understanding on the degree of loss after the disaster and make the most appropriate policy decisions. Therefore, the contribution of the Aerial Survey Office will be indispensable. He said that the use of UAVs by the Aerial Survey Office is the trend of the future, and the COA must ensure the continuous budgeting for the Aerial Survey Office, so that it can have more resources to strengthen the adoption of UAV technology and development.
Director Liu Jeng-lun of the National Land Surveying and Mapping Center said that the Aerial Survey Office and the National Land Surveying and Mapping Center have been in a long-term cooperation over the past few decades. The aerial photography images are the main source of data update for the Taiwan Map Service and the Land Use Investigation of Taiwan, and both jointly bear the important responsibility of national land surveying and mapping for Taiwan. The foundation of the country's basic map establishment is the driving force of the professional aerial photography of both units. Therefore, he is very much looking forward to the closer cooperation between the two units in the future and to complement one another in the establishment of the national basic map. He hopes to achieve the goal of two aerial photography missions of flat lands per year and one aerial photography mission for mountainous terrains every two years, so that Taiwan can have a more complete and accurate basic map that can be used.
Director Lin Chun-liang of the National Space Organization said that the aircraft within the atmosphere can capture clearer photos than the satellites outside of the atmosphere. Satellite telemetry images are more suitable for large-scale collection of images, take Formosat-5 for example, it can capture black and white images of 2 meters resolution and 4 meters resolution for color images. In comparison, manned and unmanned aircrafts can take photos with an accuracy of 1 meter or less, so they differ quite significantly. He also predicted that the National Space Organization will launch a higher-resolution satellite in the future. It is expected to achieve a resolution of 2 meters in color and 1 meter in black and white, and hopes that everyone can keep an eye out for the news.
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