Tommy Charles
Tommy Charles is an open mapping enthusiast with strong interests in drone technology and open source geospatial technology. He is a YouthMappers alumni and served as the network's ambassador in Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2020 to 2022. He is a HOT Voting member and has been working with the team to develop open mapping methodologies with the use of emerging technologies. He is currently the National Coordinator of OpenStreetMap Sierra Leone and Founder of the Sierra Leone Open Mapping Initiative.
Intervention
With the high costs and limited access to high resolution aerial imageries, there is a growing need to capacitate local mapping communities with the prerequisite technology and skills to create aerial imageries at a cost effective rate. The Drone Tasking Manager, OpenDroneMap and low cost drones are essential in achieving this feat.
HOT, alongside Freetown City Council, OpenStreetMap Sierra Leone and CODOHSAPA / FEDURP have just completed a city-wide drone imagery acquisition campaign, using an open community drone model, where city residents flew, processed and uploaded 75km2 of high resolution aerial imagery and 3d models for Freetown’s urban area.
This workshop would introduce participants to the Freetown campaign, the technology used to and help them to plan and execute on their own city wide community drone mapping campaigns
Participants will experience how to design and build flight plans at a city scale, transfer flight plans to drones, and then download and process the resulting images.