At the current time the majority of small UAS are being used for military applications. There are many other applications for small UAS. Applications in the sciences are limited only by the availability of sensor systems light and small enough for the desired task. The two general measurement methodologies for UAS are either remote sensing or in-situ measurements. Remote sensing applications for small UAS run a wide range of possible applications most of which are currently in use on manned aircraft such as aerial imaging or LIDAR. In-situ measurements for UAS include atmospheric conditions, air quality applications, cloud moisture and airborne pathogens. New and emerging technologies suggest the shortly new sensors such as small SAR or new atmospheric chemistry applications will continue to open further veins of research to small UAS platforms.
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Ladd et al. (2009) studied this question.
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