Salvinia/weevil case study: Using drones to monitor weevil propagation in Salvinia aquatics (ver. 2.0, August 2023)

During summer months, coastal Louisiana is plagued with floating aquatics that fill and block canals and small waterways causing trouble for boaters. This floating aquatic starts growing in the spring and dies off in late summer and early winter months. One natural predator of the Salvinia sp is the weevil that forages on the Salvinia and causes premature die-off. These weevils do exist naturally in the ecosystem, but this study will introduce the weevil to these salvinia sp aquatics in the early growing season in hopes of reducing the amount and thickness of these salvinia biomass. Thru the use of UAV's (Unmanned aerial vehicles), high resolution imagery will be acquired and classified to monitor the effect the weevils have on the Salvinia sp. Image data will be collected periodically throughout the year for analysis.