The Aerial Survey Office under the Forestry Bureau, Council of Agriculture held the “Reporting Ceremony of the Domestic Fixed-wing UAS Delivery Ceremony” on 7 January 2019. The “Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Xiong-Ying” was formally established as the name of the first domestic fixed-wing UAV of the Aerial Office, Forestry Bureau. It was also announced that the professional aerial photography of the Aerial Survey Office has entered a new era of drone operations.

The “Reporting Ceremony of the Domestic Fixed-wing UAS Delivery Ceremony” was held in the morning of even date at the Aerial Survey office building where many government officials and dignitaries attended the event. These include Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Tui-Zhi LI; Legislative Council, Zhen-Ging SU; Director of the Forestry Bureau, Hua-Ging LIN; Director of the Agricultural and Commercial Institute, Li-Hao GUAN; the CEO of GeoSat, Dr. Zheng-Fang LUO, among others.

It was announced in the press conference the fixed-wing UAV that was first used by the Aerial Survey Office. The name scroll was declared by the Director of the Agricultural and Commercial Institute, Li-Hao GUAN, in the presence of the all guests. Further, it was mentioned that: “Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Xiong-Ying” is one of the largest raptor animals in Taiwan, Perched in Changnan at an altitude of 1,000 to 3,000 meters. It is precisely the operating height of the “Xiong-Ying fixed-wing UAS”, thus, revealing a superior performance of the UAS.

Government officials and dignitaries shared their respective appreciation and support to future initiatives. These are as follows:

  1. Tui-Zhi LI, Deputy Director of the Council of Agriculture, said that: “Using the UAS with aerial photography supplements the operational limitations of the aerial flight of the manned aircraft, and allows the future aerial photography of Aerial Survey Office more diverse and meticulous.”
  2. Zheng-Fang LUO, the CEO of GeoSat which the manufacturer of Xiong-Ying UAS, pointed out that: “The use of domestic products by Aerial Survey Office is not only an important milestone in the Taiwanese telemetry industry, but also proves the reliability and maturity of the Taiwan drone industry.”
  3. The CEO of GeoSat, Dr. Zheng-Fang LUO, said that: “The drone is like a sparrow small but complete. It has the ability to shoot high-resolution images by high mobility and on low-altitude clouds. Therefore, using drones by the aeronautical aircraft is to compensate for the shortcomings that the aircrafts flying low and often affected by clouds. The results of UAS aerial photography can be more comprehensive, clearer and safer.
  4. The Director of Forestry Affairs, Hua-Ging LIN, said that: “The Xiong-Ying fixed-wing UAV with the characteristics of long hysteresis, high intelligence, and high altitude, etc. With the self-developed flight control computer by GeoSat, would executable off-line auto-navigation missions. The camera is equipped with a four-band image, medium format measurement digital camera. Every single photo resolution is up to 100 million pixels, and the hysteresis time is up to 4 hours. Integrating other hardware and software and equipment can collect the large-area images data in local areas.”
  5. Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Tui-Zhi LI, said that: “The introduction of fixed-wing UAVs as the pioneer of future aerial photography is a pioneering undertaking. Although using drones in foreign countries in the field of professional aviation telemetry has been for some time, but in Taiwan has just started. The Agriculture Committee is the forerunner in this respect, and will become the most professional UAV application unit in Taiwan in the future.” LI also stressed that the photos taken by the “Xiong-Ying” fixed-wing UAV are clear and fast, Now, although only purchases two UAS for the aerial Aerial photography missions, the future will certainly continue to introduce drones and build a complete application system, the Agricultural Committee will be optimistic and assist.
  6. The Legislator, Zhen-Ging SU said that: “The aerial photography of the Aerial Survey Office is great valuable to all walks of life.” He cited his hometown Ping-Dong as an example. Ping-Dong is among the agricultural counties, often encounter the agricultural damage caused by natural disasters. He added that: “We need to do analysis based on the usual accumulate aerial map, so that the Agricultural Committee can accurately grasp the loss of the situation after the disaster, and make the most correct policy decisions, therefore the contribution is credited and indispensable.” He stressed that using drones by agribusiness is a future trend, so he would continuous promote the budget in the Legislative Yuan, ensuring the availability of more resources to strengthen the adoption of UAS technology and development.