Drones map kelp on the North Coast with “game-changing” tech that takes minutes, not months

MENDOCINO Co, 9/26/22 — On a beautiful day at the beach in Caspar this September, a pair of researchers launched a small drone into the sky from shore. Flying up to 400 feet into the air at around 24 miles per hour, the drone collected dozens of images each second as it moved over the water on a prescribed flight plan, watched closely by its two on-the-ground pilots. 

The flight took less than 10 minutes; in just a few minutes more, a brand new AI tool called the “kelp-o-matic” identified every pixel of the Mendocino Coast’s dwindling bull kelp visible from above. After some quality assurance, an up-to-date map of Caspar Cove’s kelp cover was complete.