Klaas Pauly obtained his PhD in Sciences: Biology at Ghent University (Belgium) in 2011 on the use of remote sensing and species distribution modeling, combining imagery from satellites all the way down to kites to augment the information obtained from traditional SCUBA surveys in understanding the biogeography and phenology of seaweeds. He then worked as Remote Sensing Engineer at the pioneering Belgian fixed wing unmanned aircraft manufacturer Gatewing (later as part of Trimble and Delair), where he was responsible for the imaging payloads, photogrammetric image processing workflows, and remote sensing application development.

Drones are fun and versatile tools that allow us to put remote sensing right into the hands of the wider public, as a tangible and complementary alternative to satellite information!

Klaas started at VITO in 2017 on the geometric calibration and validation of drone-based hyperspectral imaging. Leveraging his field work experience in end-to-end drone surveying, from mission planning over piloting, payload operation and ground-truthing to image processing with instruments including RGB, multispectral, hyperspectral, and thermal cameras, he defines workflows for Mapeo and supports application researchers with their drone image analyses. He is active in the Belgian Civil Drone Council, raising awareness on drone-based research opportunities and integration of drones in the community with an emphasis on safety and best practices.