UAS Supports Science Active

USGS performs the studies needed to create the scientific foundation upon which policymakers, natural resource managers, and the public can make informed decisions about the management of natural resources on which they and others depend. UAS now plays a vital role in data collection for these scientific studies by addressing the data-gaps left between satellite-based observations (limited by image resolution, atmospheric conditions, and acquisition timelines), manned aircraft collection (often infeasible due to safety concerns, the need for low altitude flights, high costs, and hazardous conditions) and ground efforts (time-consuming and increases personnel exposure to adverse conditions and safety risks). UAS data collection can also require only minimal lead-time, which allows for rapid and flexible response to unique and time-sensitive events. All these characteristics have enabled UAS to become one of the best tools for gathering the repeatable, scientifically valid observations needed to support the science that leads to better policy decisions, which benefits all Americans.

Data collected by UAS supports a wide variety of studies, data releases, and scientific publications:

March 3, 2024
Aerial imagery and other remotely-sensed data from a UAS survey of Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma County, CA

February 27, 2024
Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) natural color, multispectral, lidar, and hyperspectral remote sensing data products collected at dryland sites 40 km south of Moab, Utah in May 2023

January 2024
Incredible discoveries and devastation of paleontological resources in a changing world preserved at White Sands National Park

January 29, 2024
San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge Texas: Using drone acquired 2019 imagery to classify sudden dieback vegetation in Coastal TX wetlands

January 8, 2024
Video acquired from an Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) and hydroacoustic measurements of flow velocity obtained along the North Santiam River, Oregon, in July 2022

January 4, 2024
Topographic and multispectral reflectance products, aerial imagery, ground spectra, vegetation, and associated GPS data collected during uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) operations - Dog Head Marsh at South Cape Beach, Mashpee, MA, October 7-8, 2021

January 2, 2024
Compilation of topographic data, aerial imagery, and land cover classification, collected between 1984 to 2021 for an aeolian dune field near Lees Ferry, AZ

January 1, 2024
An open-source workflow for scaling burn severity metrics from drone to satellite to support post-fire watershed management

December 19, 2023
The 2022 Chaos Canyon landslide in Colorado: Insights revealed by seismic analysis, field investigations, and remote sensing

November 14, 2023
Remotely sensed data from a reach of the Sacramento River near Glenn, California, used to perform Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) within the Robot Operating System (ROS)

September 27, 2023
Multispectral images and field measurements of water depth from the Sacramento River near Glenn, California, acquired September 14-16, 2021

September 15, 2023
Discharge Estimation Using Video Recordings from Small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems

September 8, 2023
Lidar Point Clouds (LPCs), Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and Snow Depth Raster Maps Derived from Lidar Data Collected on Small, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado, 2020-22

August 25, 2023
Topographic and multispectral reflectance products, aerial imagery, spectral reflectance profiles, vegetation surveys, and associated GPS data collected during uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) operations: Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, October 10-14, 2022

August 7, 2023
Erosion rates and salinity and selenium yields in a basin near Rangely, Colorado following the 2017 Dead Dog wildfire as modeled by WEPP and measured from UAS

July 25, 2023
Guidelines for Calibration of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Imagery

June 23, 2023
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from UAS surveys of the beaches at Fort Stevens State Park, OR, and Cape Disappointment State Park, WA

May 23, 2023
UAS imagery and related products collected for structure-from-motion work obtained by using uncrewed aerial systems from an erosion prone area north of Medina River Natural Area near San Antonio, Texas, August 14, 2019, and July 8, 2022

May 15, 2023
Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau: Coastal Threats to the Hawaiian Sites and Landscapes

April 12, 2023
UAS-Based Observations of Infrasound Directionality at Stromboli Volcano, Italy

March 31, 2023
Rapid-response digital elevation models of the 2020–present summit eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi

March 28, 2023
The Future of Emissions Testing is Looking Up: How EPA is Using Drones to Test Air Quality

February 23, 2023
Topobathymetric Model of Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, 2011 to 2019 – Field Survey Source and Validation Data

February 8, 2023
A comparison of direct & indirect survey methods for estimating colonial nesting waterbird populations

January 17, 2023
Beyond presence mapping: predicting fractional cover of non-native vegetation in Sentinel-2 imagery using an ensemble of MaxEnt models

January 11, 2023
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from a UAS survey of the Los Padres Reservoir delta, Carmel River valley, CA, 2017-11-01

December 8, 2022
Assessing the seasonal evolution of snow depth spatial variability and scaling in complex mountain terrain

August 24, 2022
Democratizing macroecology: Integrating unoccupied aerial systems with the National Ecological Observatory Network

June 6, 2022
Regional walrus abundance estimate in the United States Chukchi Sea in autumn

May 24, 2022
Get to know the scientists behind snow to flow: The study of snowmelt in the Western U.S.

May 24, 2022
Walruses are skittish. That’s why this scientist is using drones to count them.

March 21, 2022
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion-derived shallow water bathymetry from a UAS survey of the coral reef off Waiakane, Molokai, Hawaii, June 2018

March 9, 2022
Colorado River at Windy Gap near Granby, CO - 2021/07/27 Water Surface Velocity Map Using Particle Image Velocimetry 

March 6, 2022
Multiple UAV Flights across the Growing Season Can Characterize Fine Scale Phenological Heterogeneity within and among Vegetation Functional Groups

February 23, 2022
UAV based vegetation classification results and input NDVI, vegetation height, and texture datasets for two Montana rangeland sites in 2018

February 21, 2022
Rockfall Kinematics from Massive Rock Cliffs: Outlier Boulders and Flyrock from Whitney Portal, California, Rockfalls

February 14, 2022
Small Unoccupied Aircraft System Imagery and Associated Data used for Discharge Measurement at Eight Locations Across the United States in 2019 and 2020

December 13, 2021
Use of High-Resolution Topo-Bathymetry to Assess Shoreline Topography and Future Development of a Slackwater Harbor near Dardanelle, Arkansas, October 2021

December 9, 2021
Spectral reflectance measurements of radiometric calibration panels for UAS image calibration

October 19, 2021
Snow Depth Retrieval With an Autonomous UAV-Mounted Software-Defined Radar

October 2021
Developing bare-earth digital elevation models from structure-from-motion data on barrier islands

September 15, 2021
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from UAS survey of the intertidal zone at West Whidbey Island, WA, June 2019 

September 15, 2021
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from UAS survey of the intertidal zone at Lone Tree Point, Kiket Bay, WA, June 2019

July 22, 2021
Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) video of the 2018 summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii

June 3, 2021
Workflow for Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Traditional Geospatial Data to Delineate Agricultural Drainage Tiles at Edge-of-Field Sites

March 18, 2021
Enumerating White‐Tailed Deer Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

March 18, 2021
Lava effusion rate evolution and erupted volume during the 2018 Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption

February 22, 2021
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from UAS survey of the intertidal zone at Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA, June 2019

February 22, 2021
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion data products from UAS survey of the intertidal zone at Puget Creek and Dickman Mill Park, Tacoma, WA, June 2019

February 18, 2021
Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) video of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii

February 2021
Quantifying plant-soil-nutrient dynamics in rangelands: Fusion of UAV hyperspectral-LiDAR, UAV multispectral-photogrammetry, and ground-based LiDAR-digital photography in a shrub-encroached desert grassland

January 28, 2021
Near-field Remote Sensing of River Velocity, Bathymetry, Floodplain Topography, and Discharge at the Arkansas River at Parkdale, Colorado, USA, March 2018

November 29, 2020
Fossil Hunting Is Entering a New Technological Age

November 20, 2020
Small atoll fresh groundwater lenses respond to a combination of natural climatic cycles and human modified geology

October 12, 2020
QCam: sUAS-Based Doppler Radar for Measuring River Discharge

October 9, 2020
Drone- and ground-based measurements of velocity, depth, and discharge collected during 2017-18 at the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska, USA

September 25, 2020
From Lava to Water: A New Era at Kilauea

September 25, 2020
Predicting Bird Guilds Using Vegetation Composition and Structure on a Wild and Scenic River in Arizona

September 19, 2020
Ultra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems

August 17, 2020
Aerial imagery and structure-from-motion derived data products from UAS survey of the Liberty Island Conservation Bank Wildlands restoration site, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, October 2018

July 31, 2020
Low-altitude aerial imagery from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at select locations over the Potomac River, October 2019

June 2, 2020
CountryMapper Sensor Validation Survey Data

May 1, 2020
Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Measuring Post-Flood High-Water Marks and Streambed Elevations

April 21, 2020
Topographic and Sediment Size Data from Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence with the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2019

April 9, 2020
Volcanological applications of unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS): Developments, strategies, and future challenges

April 1, 2020
Overall results and key findings on the use of UAV visible-color, multispectral, and thermal infrared imagery to map agricultural drainage pipes

March 23, 2020
Photogrammetric data collected by small unoccupied aircraft system for vegetation analysis at three study reaches along the Verde River, Arizona, December 2017

2020
Time Series of Structure-from-Motion Products—Orthomosaics, Digital Elevation Models, and Point Clouds: Madeira Beach, Florida, July 2017 to June 2018

2020
Time Series of Aerial Imagery from Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Associated Ground Control Points: Madeira Beach, Florida, July 2017 to June 2018

2020
Using small unmanned aircraft systems for measuring post-flood high-water marks and streambed elevations

December 12, 2019
Cyclic lava effusion during the 2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano: data release

December 6, 2019
Cyclic lava effusion during the 2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano

December 2019
Reach-Scale Monitoring and Modeling of Rivers - Expanding Hydraulic Data Collection Beyond the Cross Section

2019
Reach-Scale Monitoring Network

November 19, 2019
Orthoimagery and elevation data derived from UAS imagery for Palmyra Atoll, USA 2016

November 8, 2019
Variable normal-fault rupture behavior, northern Lost River fault zone, Idaho, USA

August 6, 2019
Orthoimagery and elevation data for Bluffton Native Habitat Waterway, Indiana, 2016

July 29, 2019
Digital Surface Models for the northern 16 km of the 1983 Borah Peak earthquake rupture, northern Lost River fault zone (Idaho, USA)

July 24, 2019
Using UAS Capabilities To Help Identify Hummock-Hollow Formation and Fragmentation in Critical Marsh Habitat (Spartina patens) for Mottled Ducks in Southeast Texas

July 10, 2019
Geotagged Low-Altitude Aerial Imagery From Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights Over Town Neck Beach, in Sandwich, Massachusetts, With Associated Ground Control Points, and Transects Collected by the U.S. Geological Survey on January 22, January 25, February 11, March 30, and September 21, 2016

May 29, 2019
Aerial imagery from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flights and ground control points: Plum Island Estuary and Parker River NWR (PIEPR), February 27th, 2018.

April 29, 2019
A partnership to protect critical infrastructure

February 21, 2019
Geotagged Low-Altitude Aerial Imagery from Unmanned Aerial Systems Flights over Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, With Associated Ground Control Points, and Transects, Collected on January 9, January 25, February 14, March 16, April 28, May 4, and September 18, 2017

January 25, 2019
The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano

January 2019
Delineation of tile-drain networks using thermal and multispectral imagery—Implications for water quantity and quality differences from paired edge-of-field sites

October 15, 2018
Mapping and measuring aeolian sand dunes with photogrammetry and LiDAR from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and multispectral satellite imagery on the Paria Plateau, AZ, USA

July 17, 2018
Understanding Floods | Long-term Streamflow Data Collection

July 9, 2018
Aerial imagery and photogrammetric products from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flights over the Lake Ontario shoreline at Chimney Bluffs, New York, July 14, 2017

June 20, 2018
Aerial imagery and photogrammetric products from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flights over the Lake Ontario shoreline at Sodus Bay, New York, July 12 to 14, 2017

May 15, 2018
Low-altitude multispectral and thermal-infrared imagery from agricultural fields, Black Creek basin, Allen County, IN - spring 2017

May 8, 2018
Advances in Streamgaging | Reach-Scale Monitoring Experiment (2 of 2)

February 2, 2018
Aerial imagery and photogrammetric products from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flights over the Lake Ontario shoreline at Braddock Bay, New York, July 10 to 11, 2017

January 30, 2018
UAS imagery acquisition for McFaddin NWR and J.D. Murphree WMA acquired fall 2017

October 3, 2017
UAS-SfM for Coastal Research: Geomorphic Feature Extraction and Land Cover Classification from High-Resolution Elevation and Optical Imagery

August 28, 2017
Topographic Survey Data from Photogrammetry of Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, Colorado, 2017

June 15, 2017
UAV lidar and hyperspectral fusion for forest monitoring in the southwestern USA

2017
Drones for Three-Dimensional Modeling of Devil’s Tower National Monument

September 20, 2016
Low-altitude aerial imagery and related field observations associated with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flights over Coast Guard Beach, Nauset Spit, Nauset Inlet, and Nauset Marsh, Cape Cod National Seashore, Eastham, Massachusetts on 1 March 2016