Aerial infrared thermography: an effective tool to support government bodies in environmental police actions

The activities of our research group, “Environmental Sanitary Engineering” of the Department of Environmental Science - University of Naples PARTHENOPE, are focused on the following: - Environmental pollution (prevention, monitoring, modeling and controlling); - Environmental reclaim processes and technologies (water, soil and gas emissions treatment, reutilization and enhancement); - Integrated and sustainable resources management. In regard to the previously mentioned activities, our research group started the development of several scientific applied researches, discovering new methods and new technologies to perform an advanced environmental monitoring; particularly, the applied system is distinguished by joined use of aerial platforms (“manned” and “unmanned”) and advanced sensors (IR cameras HD, thick film solid state sensors, biosensors, QCM, digital HD photo/video 360°, etc.). Our system allows a 3D environmental monitoring according to “source – path – target” model; as matter of fact, the monitoring so improved allow us a full description of the investigated environmental scenario. Moreover, during last years we cooperate with several specialized police forces and environmental protection agencies to detect Illegal sanitary sewer and storm-drain connections, Illegal discharges, illegal landfills and other “anomalies” produced by illegal actions. So far we have scanned several miles of the coast and flown on critical zones using different aerial platforms technologies (ULM, UAV LTA, Tethered Balloon, multirotors mini-UAV) and a digital HD IR-Camera (manufactured by FLIR): a university curriculum for environmental police specialists was developed and, today, our expertise and specific equipment could add valuable assistance to support Government Bodies in environmental police actions. The presentation scheduled at first the close examination of the operational scenario and, subsequently it brought to the definition of the integrated system and of the validating technologies; it will finally exhibit the effectiveness of the integrated system through the analysis of applied "test beds".