Scientific exploration from the air: this is what an aerial laboratory is for

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Until recently, every scientific exploration at the National Autonomous University of Mexico ( UNAM ) that required a plane usually began with the arduous task of finding one available and renting it. The conditions were limited. Scientists had to carry boards to improvise the installation of their equipment. Sometimes projects were lost because they did not have an aircraft. Those days are a thing of the past thanks to the recent acquisition of the 'K'usam' by the educational institution. "This should have happened 50 years ago," admits biologist Armando Peralta, who leads the aerial laboratory at the university's Institute of Geography (IGg).

This machine shares its name with a small Mexican bird cap Phone Number List able of staying in the air for days. According to Peralta, having your own ship provides control over maintenance, times of use, safety, selection of pilots and assembly of equipment; following general aeronautical regulations at all times.

The idea that UNAM would have an airplane did not arise overnight. It was not a Christmas wish or an idea. The flight to acquire K'usam has been long.

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In the 1980s, Armando Peralta, also technical secretary of IGg, joined the UNAM Engineering Institute. Eventually, the work team to which he belonged ventured into the development of drones, the use of satellite images and geographic information systems.



Additionally, the research group pioneered the use of video cameras at a time when everything was done with rolls of film. In 1997 Peralta arrived at the IGg and proposed that digital teams be implemented, then the number of projects in the air grew. “We quickly saw the potential of this.” He says that it seemed like they would have to convince many people about the usefulness of their instruments, but that after seeing the achievements, “they were convinced on their own.”

For years, they carried out scientific exploration on rented planes, tested their instruments and experience to support the country's environmental management, do basic geographic research and help with contingencies such as oil spills, the effects of hurricanes and floods.