10164977Project RESCUEClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKUsing drones to monitor environmental emergencies offers a range of advantages that make them highly effective tools in disaster response and environmental protection. They can be launched quickly and reach affected areas faster than ground teams, can access areas that are difficult or dangerous for humans, and keep emergency personnel out of harm's way during assessment phases and are far less expensive to operate and maintain than crewed aircraft and reduce the need for large response teams in the field. In addition, drones can transmit real-time footage to responders for quicker decision-making. The **R**esilience and **E**mergency **S**ervices **C**oordination **U**sing **E**nabled-drones (RESCUE) project will deliver a Somerset-based environmental monitoring and resilience service using drones. It brings together Somerset Council, local emergency services, resilience teams, and Government agencies, plus the CAA, and drone service providers, to develop a MVP for adoption as a sustainable service in Somerset. This project is important to the Somerset region as it has a history of flooding, causing damage and impact on the local economy and lives. In 2014, Somerset suffered unprecedented flooding. Whole villages were completely marooned, and hundreds of people had their homes swamped. The economic cost of the floods to Somerset was up to £147.5 million, with the South West region significantly affected. The Council estimated that the cost of flood damage exceeded £10 million. More than 14000 hectares of agricultural land, used for grazing and crops, were underwater for 4 weeks. The floods affected over 600 houses and 17000 acres of agricultural land. The damage to residential properties amounted to £16 million. This was not a one-off event, another very wet winter in 2024 saw record rainfall in one of the lowest-lying areas of the UK, the Somerset Levels and Moors. Project RESCUE will develop a business case for the use of drones to collect data and intelligence during environmental emergencies in Somerset. This will include the environmental, social, and economic implications of flooding across the county, identifying drone-based solutions to support emergency response, and identify the economic growth opportunities the adoption of drone technologies and supporting services will have on the region. The project will develop a concept of operations for how drones would be operated in such emergencies in the county, integrated into rescue and monitoring operations, and how the data collected would be shared amongst agencies, and explore service provision solutions to meet the requirements.