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Four steps to extend drone use in research

Better regulation, flight control, batteries and software would improve the range of craft and data quality, argue Nicholas C. Coops, Tristan R. H. Goodbody and Lin Cao.
  1. Nicholas C. Coops

    1. Nicholas C. Coops is Canada Research Chair and professor of remote sensing in the Faculty of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

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  2. Tristan R. H. Goodbody

    1. Tristan R. H. Goodbody is a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

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  3. Lin Cao

    1. Lin Cao is an associate professor in remote sensing at the Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

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A drone flying over the huge lava lake in Iceland

A camera drone flies over a huge lava lake in Bárdarbunga, Iceland. Credit: Eric Cheng/Barcroft Media/Getty

Drones are revolutionizing environmental research. Using small remote-controlled aerial vehicles, scientists can photograph far-flung places more quickly, easily and cheaply than by conventional surveys done on foot, by car or from balloons, satellites or aircraft.

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Nature 572, 433-435 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02474-y

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