On the subject of environmental surveillance, last May 6th i multirotor drones operated by ARPA Lombardia flew over the regional landfill of Gorla Maggioreproviding important morphological surveys in a joint exercise with the air-naval unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Como.
As reported on the SNPA website, National System for Environmental Protection, in this case it was not a routine operation, but also ajoint exercise with the site management bodyan activity that included extensive aerial photogrammetric surveys by drone and offered a valuable training and skills development opportunity for the technical staff involved, both from the Technical Directorate – Central Earth Observation Unit of the region and from the Varese-Como Department.
The entire area covered by the landfill, approximately 25 hectares with various morphologieshas been fully mapped using several drones equipped with RGB optical cameras and LIDAR sensors, including a Matrice 350 RTK. At the same time, during the same morning, further aerial photos were taken from an AW169 helicopter operated by the Varese section of the Guardia di Finanza, improving the completeness of the data collected.
One of the main objectives, as underlined by ARPA Lombardia technicians from various departments on the Malpensa24 website, was not alone collect a large Earth observation dataset from multiple platforms — satellites, drones and helicopters — but also prepare and compare the cartographic products derived from these different detection technologies and evaluate their various accuracies. Indeed, the data collected during these exercises will be used in upcoming seminars and workshops on the operational use of drones with other agencies within the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA).
ARPA has been focusing a lot onstrategic use of aerial assets to conduct surveys during emergency situations, a practice that has consolidated over the last two years. The participation of the Guardia di Finanza air unit, equipped with cutting-edge technological tools, is essential to monitor, prevent and address environmental violations. This innovative integration of advanced technology with drones not only simplifies surveillance and compliance checks across large and varied areas of the landscape, but also promotes inter-agency collaboration, ensuring more effective environmental protection and management initiatives.
