Abstract:
The paper describes the assessment of the vegetation and the land use systems of the Malinda Wetland in the Usambara Mountains
in Tanzania with the parachute UAS (unmanned aerial system) SUSI 62. The area of investigation was around 8 km². In two
campaigns, one in the wet season and one in the dry season, approximately 2600 aerial photos of the wetland were taken using the
parachute UAS SUSI 62; of these images, ortho-photos with a spatial resolution of 20 cm x 20 cm, were computed with an
advanced block bundle approach. The block bundles were geo-referenced using control points taken with differential GPS. As well
a digital surface model (DSM) of the wetland was created out of the UAS photos. Using the ortho-photos it is possible to assess the
different land use systems; the differences in the phenology of the vegetation between wet and dry season can be investigated. In
addition, the regionalisation of bio mass samples on smaller test plots was possible. The ortho-photos and the DSM derived from
the UAS proved to be a valuable ground truth for the interpretation of Terra-SAR X images. The campaigns demonstrated that
SUSI 62 was a suitable, robust tool to obtain the valuable information under harsh conditions.
