Cost and time breakdown for 3 UAV methods

This dataset was used to evaluate the utility of unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAV) for monitoring tidal marsh restoration at a site in Elkhorn Slough, on the Central Coast of California, USA. These data include a breakdown of the initial investment costs and time commitments associated with UAV monitoring. The three methods compared here vary based on georeferencing method. UAV-GNSS is UAV equipped with onboard uncorrected global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), UAV-GCP is UAV georeferenced using ground control points (GCPs) that are surveyed in the field using real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning, and UAV-PPK is UAV with post-processed kinematic (PPK) dual-frequency differential GNSS corrected using either a base station in the study area or a nearby Continuously Operating Reference Station. We used these data to compare UAV monitoring with other methods of topography monitoring (terrestrial laser scanning, surface elevation tables, and airborne LIDAR).