PLACE conducts aerial image acquisition over urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa and small island states in the Caribbean and the Pacific. It mitigates the risks associated with operations over people and buildings by:
- Using UAVs designed for safe operations. This includes VTOLs, to reduce the risk of accident during take off and landing, and fitting Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADSB) In and Out transponders so PLACE Aerial can be detected on radar.
- Undertaking hazard identification and risk assessment, this covers both physical risks and risks related to privacy and data security, ahead of any data acquisition program (e.g. assessing launch and landing sites, ensuring all clearances are in place).
- Testing UAVs away from centers of population before flights commence.
- Preparing flight plans that take into account terrain, high rise buildings and no fly zones.
- Training 0perators on PLACE’s operational principles as well as UAV use.
- Requiring operators complete safety checks before, during and after missions and should they occur, log incidents.