tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/unmanned-aerial-vehicles-17290/articlesUnmanned aerial vehicles – The Conversation2024-01-30T13:34:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207632024-01-30T13:34:46Z2024-01-30T13:34:46ZWhy AI can’t replace air traffic controllers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570714/original/file-20240122-29-jlh3sm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3498%2C2330&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Control towers at airports are only the most visible parts of the complex national air traffic control system.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-american-airlines-airbus-a319-airplane-takes-off-past-news-photo/1246152990">Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After hours of routine operations, an air traffic controller gets a radio call from a small aircraft whose cockpit indicators can’t confirm that the plane’s landing gear is extended for landing. The controller arranges for the pilot to fly low by the tower so the controller can visually check the plane’s landing gear. All appears well. “It looks like your gear is down,” the controller tells the pilot.</p>
<p>The controller calls for the airport fire trucks to be ready just in case, and the aircraft circles back to land safely. Scenarios like this play out regularly. In the air traffic control system, everything must meet the highest levels of safety, but not everything goes according to plan.</p>
<p>Contrast this with the still science-fiction vision of future artificial intelligence “pilots” flying autonomous aircraft, complete with an autonomous air traffic control system handling aircraft as easily as routers shuttling data packets on the internet. </p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Oqm-cy4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">aerospace engineer</a> who led a National Academies study ordered by Congress <a href="https://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/170870.aspx">about air traffic controller staffing</a>. Researchers are continually working on new technologies that automate elements of the air traffic control system, but technology can execute only those functions that are planned for during its design and so can’t modify standard procedures. As the scenario above illustrates, humans are likely to remain a necessary central component of air traffic control for a long time to come.</p>
<h2>What air traffic controllers do</h2>
<p>The Federal Aviation Administration’s fundamental guidance for the <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/atc_html/">responsibility of air traffic controllers</a> states: “The primary purpose of the air traffic control system is to prevent a collision involving aircraft.” Air traffic controllers are also charged with providing “a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic” and other services supporting safety, such as helping pilots avoid mountains and other hazardous terrain and hazardous weather, to the extent they can. </p>
<p>Air traffic controllers’ jobs vary. Tower controllers provide the local control that clears aircraft to take off and land, making sure that they are spaced safely apart. They also provide ground control, directing aircraft to taxi and notifying pilots of flight plans and potential safety concerns on that day before flight. Tower controllers are aided by some displays but mostly look outside from the towers and talk with pilots via radio. At larger airports staffed by FAA controllers, <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb/atc/assc">surface surveillance displays</a> show controllers the aircraft and other vehicles on the ground on the airfield.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This FAA animation explains the three basic components of the U.S. air traffic control system.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Approach and en route controllers, on the other hand, sit in front of large displays in dark and quiet rooms. They communicate with pilots via radio. Their displays show aircraft locations on a map view with key features of the airspace boundaries and routes. </p>
<p>The 21 en route control centers in the U.S. manage traffic that is between and above airports and thus typically flying at higher speeds and altitudes. </p>
<p>Controllers at approach control facilities transition departing aircraft from local control after takeoff up and into en route airspace. They similarly take arriving aircraft from en route airspace, line them up with the landing approach and hand them off to tower controllers. </p>
<p>A controller at each display manages all the traffic within a sector. Sectors can vary in size from a few cubic miles, focused on sequencing aircraft landing at a busy airport, to en route sectors spanning more than 30,000 cubic miles (125,045 cubic km) where and when there are few aircraft flying. If a sector gets busy, a second and even third controller might assist, or the sector might be split into two, with another display and controller team managing the second. </p>
<h2>How technology can help</h2>
<p>Air traffic controllers have a stressful job and are subject to fatigue and information overload. Public concern about a growing number of close calls have put a spotlight on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/us/politics/air-traffic-safety-faa.html">aging technology</a> and staffing shortages that have led to air traffic controllers <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211838624/air-traffic-controllers-shortage-close-calls-senate-safety-near-miss-senate">working mandatory overtime</a>. New technologies can help alleviate those issues.</p>
<p>The air traffic control system is incorporating new technologies in several ways. The FAA’s <a href="https://www.faa.gov/nextgen">NextGen air transportation system</a> initiative is providing controllers with more – and more accurate – information. </p>
<p>Controllers’ displays originally showed only radar tracking. They now can tap into all the data known about each flight within the <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/eram">en route automation modernization system</a>. This system integrates radar, automatic position reports from aircraft via <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb">automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast</a>, weather reports, flight plans and flight histories. </p>
<p>Systems help alert controllers to potential conflicts between aircraft, or aircraft that are too close to high ground or structures, and provide suggestions to controllers to sequence aircraft into smooth traffic flows. In testimony to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 9, 2023, about airport safety, FAA Chief Operating Officer Timothy Arel said that the administration is <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/addressing-close-calls-improve-aviation-safety">developing or improving several air traffic control systems</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers are using machine learning to analyze and predict aspects of air traffic and air traffic control, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/TVT.2020.2981959">air traffic flow between cities</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/1659103">air traffic controller behavior</a>.</p>
<h2>How technology can complicate matters</h2>
<p>New technology can also cause profound changes to air traffic control in the form of new types of aircraft. For example, current regulations mostly <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-107">limit uncrewed aircraft</a> to fly lower than 400 feet (122 meters) above ground and away from airports. These are drones used by first responders, news organizations, surveyors, delivery services and hobbyists.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA and the FAA are leading the development of a traffic control system for drones and other uncrewed aircraft.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, some emerging uncrewed aircraft companies are proposing to fly in controlled airspace. Some plan to have their aircraft fly regular flight routes and interact normally with air traffic controllers via voice radio. These include <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231206413888/en/Reliable-Robotics-Flies-Large-Cargo-Aircraft-with-No-One-On-Board">Reliable Robotics</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/self-flying-cessna-completes-fully-automated-flight-xwing-2021-4">Xwing</a>, which are separately working to automate the Cessna Caravan, a small cargo airplane.</p>
<p>Others are targeting new business models, such as <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air-taxis">advanced air mobility</a>, the concept of small, highly automated electric aircraft – electric air taxis, for example. These would require dramatically different routes and procedures for handling air traffic.</p>
<h2>Expect the unexpected</h2>
<p>An air traffic controller’s routine can be disrupted by an aircraft that requires special handling. This could range from an emergency to priority handling of medical flights or Air Force One. Controllers are given the responsibility and the flexibility to adapt how they manage their airspace.</p>
<p>The requirements for the front line of air traffic control are a poor match for AI’s capabilities. People expect air traffic to continue to be the safest complex, high-technology system ever. It achieves this standard by adhering to procedures when practical, which is something AI can do, and by adapting and exercising good judgment whenever something unplanned occurs or a new operation is implemented – a <a href="https://theconversation.com/embrace-the-unexpected-to-teach-ai-how-to-handle-new-situations-change-the-rules-of-the-game-157560">notable weakness of today’s AI</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, it is when conditions are the worst – when controllers figure out how to handle aircraft with severe problems, airport crises or widespread airspace closures due to security concerns or infrastructure failures – that controllers’ contributions to safety are the greatest. </p>
<p>Also, controllers don’t fly the aircraft. They communicate and interact with others to guide the aircraft, and so their responsibility is fundamentally to serve as part of a team – another <a href="https://www.sto.nato.int/publications/STO%20Meeting%20Proceedings/STO-MP-HFM-300/MP-HFM-300-20.pdf">notable weakness of AI</a>.</p>
<p>As an engineer and designer, I’m most excited about the potential for AI to analyze the big data records of past air traffic operations in pursuit of, for example, more efficient routes of flight. However, as a pilot, I’m glad to hear a controller’s calm voice on the radio helping me land quickly and safely should I have a problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Pritchett receives funding from the National Science Foundation through the Center for Advanced Aerial Mobility and Sensors (CAAMS) on the topic of in-flight autonomy capable of resolving faults and failures in on-board systems, and is finishing up a project sponsored by NASA examining human-autonomy teaming in advanced aerial mobility. </span></em></p>An air traffic safety expert explains why humans will remain central to managing the nation’s airports and airspace even as AI promises to improve air traffic control.Amy Pritchett, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182672023-11-30T13:35:54Z2023-11-30T13:35:54ZDrone fishing in South Africa is a danger to sharks and may be unfair to other fishers – study<p>“Drone fishing” is a relatively recent innovation in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Some recreational anglers are using personal drones to fly baited lines into hard-to-reach areas of water, or to look for good fishing areas. </p>
<p>Recreational fishing is a popular sport and hobby in South Africa, which has a 2,850km shoreline. The most recent estimate of the number of marine shore based anglers is about <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fme.12515">400,000</a>. </p>
<p>The group of researchers I’m part of, who study linefish (fish caught using hook and line) became aware over the past 10 years or so of the increased practice of drone fishing. This was in part thanks to recreational fishers approaching us with their concerns. </p>
<p>One of the concerns is that increases in the numbers of enthusiastic anglers and their ability to catch fish might have significant effects on fish stocks and other animals (such as birds) in coastal zones. Another is that drone fishing might intensify conflict between fisher groups competing for the same species. Aside from recreation, linefishing provides the primary source of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/1814232X.2020.1824738">protein and income</a> for about 2,730 commercial fishers, 2,400 small-scale boat fishers and 30,000 small-scale shore-based fishers in South Africa. </p>
<p>We agreed the practice should be investigated, but faced a challenge: there was very little monitoring going on to provide data. </p>
<p>So we took an unconventional approach to our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-021-01578-y#Sec11">study</a>. We used publicly available online monitoring to estimate the growing interest, global extent and catch composition of drone fishing. This showed us that there had been a big (357%) spike in interest in drone fishing in 2016. There were also worrying indications of a threat to species of conservation concern in South Africa. </p>
<p>We then consulted commercial drone operators, legal researchers and others to get a more holistic view. Drone fishing has economic, political, legal, ecological and physiological implications. Based on this we made some recommendations for further research and monitoring, and shared them with fishing authorities.</p>
<p>The South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment then released a <a href="https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/publicnotices/25february2022motorisedequipment_recreationalangling.pdf">public notice</a> warning recreational anglers that the use of drones and other electronic devices is deemed illegal under the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/marine-living-resources-act-27-may-1998-0000">South African Marine Living Resources Act</a>.</p>
<p>The fishing drone companies that had already emerged are now struggling to survive. They have taken the department to <a href="https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPPHC/2022/250.html">court</a> seeking clarity on the legality of using drones in fishing. The judgement on this case, which is currently in the appeal court, will no doubt pave the way for how drone fishing is managed in South Africa in the future.</p>
<h2>Innovative research methods</h2>
<p>Largely because we were house-bound during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic we gathered most of our data via the internet. We surveyed social media platforms for drone-fishing dedicated groups and used Google Trends to track internet searches for “drone fishing”.</p>
<p>Results indicated a 357% spike in interest in 2016, after the release of a popular YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sdUZqOoAq4">video</a> of an angler catching a large longfin tuna from an Australian beach using a drone. The search volume increased to about 3,600 monthly searches from an average of about 1,400 before the peak. “Drone fishing” Facebook groups had over 17,000 members and 38,700 videos with titles including the term “drone fishing” had been uploaded. </p>
<p>The online interest was mostly in three countries: New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. </p>
<p>To get an idea of which fish species were targeted, we then watched 100 YouTube videos posted by drone fishers in those three countries. In both New Zealand and Australia, the most frequently observed catch was red snapper, which is not a species of direct conservation concern. In South Africa, though, sharks made up the majority (97%) of viewed catches, many of which are of severe conservation concern, such as the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3852/2872747">dusky shark</a>. </p>
<h2>Impacts of drone fishing</h2>
<p>Having established interest in and the presence of drone fishing in South Africa, we sought to consider the issue holistically – its impact on:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>targeted fish and their habitats</p></li>
<li><p>other animals in the coastal zone</p></li>
<li><p>other people using the coastal zone.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Drones with cameras allow anglers to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cz8sBz7ihYb/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D">identify</a> ideal fishing habitats far from the shore. Areas that anglers couldn’t reach before are now open to exploitation. Even fish that are released are less likely to survive when caught further offshore. A large fish hooked hundreds of metres offshore is likely to experience <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2013/496/m496p207.pdf?">extreme exhaustion and physiological disturbance</a> and may be consumed by other predators. </p>
<p>The potential loss of fishing tackle by drone anglers is also a concern. It is common to lose tackle, either when it gets stuck in rocky habitats or while fighting large fish such as sharks. Both scenarios may result in hundreds of metres of fishing line remaining in the ocean. In addition to polluting the marine environment, such debris threatens to entangle birds, marine mammals and turtles. </p>
<p>In South Africa, drone fishing is only accessible to affluent anglers. Their increased catches might lead to conflict with fishers who depend on their catch for food or income.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that sharing live information on fishing conditions via the internet could add to concerns about the privacy of other public beach users.</p>
<p>Our 2021 <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-021-01578-y#Sec11">paper</a> noted that at the time, there were no specific regulations relating to drone fishing in any country, including South Africa. We drew attention to legislation that could be used indirectly to regulate the practice. </p>
<h2>Regulation and management of fisheries</h2>
<p>Three of the paper’s co-authors were part of a working group for the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. We shared the paper with the department and in 2022, it took concrete action on this issue for the first time. </p>
<p>The department released a <a href="https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/publicnotices/25february2022motorisedequipment_recreationalangling.pdf">public notice</a> which explicitly prohibits drones and other remotely operated vehicles for angling. </p>
<p>Companies that custom build fishing drones were granted <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/use-motorised-equipment-recreational-angling-drones-and-remotely-operated-devices-and-or">leave to appeal</a> the original court ruling on their application to unban drone fishing. The appeal has not yet been heard.</p>
<p>We hope the end result will be better monitoring and management of South African recreational fishery, so that resources are available to those who need them the most.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Claus Winkler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Increased interest in recreational fishing with drones has led to concern about its environmental and social impact.Alexander Claus Winkler, Research Associate, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976122023-02-23T13:14:51Z2023-02-23T13:14:51ZDrones over Ukraine: What the war means for the future of remotely piloted aircraft in combat<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511803/original/file-20230222-25-gdqlsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5000%2C3323&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Ukrainian soldier uses a commercial drone to monitor the front line in eastern Ukraine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ukrainian-soldier-operates-a-drone-from-a-house-on-the-news-photo/1246245227">Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past year, images from Ukraine have often portrayed a war resembling other conflicts from the past half-century. Russian forces deploy tanks, fighter planes, warships, amphibious vehicles and attack helicopters. Ukrainians fight back with anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers and anti-aircraft missiles. This is how much of the war appears on the ground.</p>
<p>But there’s another side to the conflict – a hypermodern battleground where drones play a crucial role in surveillance, reconnaissance and combat missions. These technologies may foreshadow a world in which armed conflicts are conducted largely by remote control – and perhaps someday, by artificial intelligence. </p>
<p>What lessons does the drone war in Ukraine hold for the future? </p>
<h2>Commercial and portable drones</h2>
<p>One lesson is that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/the-democratization-of-drone-warfare/458184/">drones have been democratized</a>, accessible to anyone with a few hundred dollars and a bit of technical knowledge. In Ukraine, DIY hobbyists have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/world/europe/ukraine-drones.html">modified and weaponized small, inexpensive commercial drones</a> by outfitting them with high-resolution cameras and explosives. </p>
<p>Ukraine’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/28/the-drone-operators-who-halted-the-russian-armoured-vehicles-heading-for-kyiv">Aerorozvidka air reconnaissance unit</a> made headlines early in the war when its drones helped stop a Russian convoy headed for Kyiv. Aerorozvidka personnel use spiderlike hexacopters, octocopters and other remote-controlled devices as weapons.</p>
<p>These gadgets typically fly at low altitudes – less than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) – and limited distances – less than 19 miles (31 kilometers). Russia’s fighter jets aren’t designed to prevent attacks from such small drones.</p>
<h2>‘Suicide’ drones</h2>
<p>Both sides in the war have also unleashed <a href="https://dronecenter.bard.edu/files/2017/02/CSD-Loitering-Munitions.pdf">loitering munitions</a> — sometimes called “suicide” drones. These self-destructing devices can circle around targets for hours before attacking. Ukraine’s arsenal includes U.S.-made <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/21/mystery-drone-air-force-new-weapon-ukraine-00026970">Switchblade and Phoenix Ghost models</a>, while Russian forces use domestically manufactured <a href="https://www.military-today.com/aircraft/lancet.htm">Lancet-3 drones</a>. Some of these weapons are small enough to fit in a backpack. Ukrainian forces have also <a href="https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1617716493210497024">fashioned DIY loitering munitions</a> by attaching explosives to off-the-shelf quadcopters.</p>
<p>Russian troops have also used Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, which <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-russia-is-using-iranian-killer-drones-to-spread-terror-in-ukraine">recently terrorized Kyiv</a>. At about 11 feet (3.5 meters) long, these fixed wing drones resemble a small plane. Loitering munitions typically cost US$10,000-$20,000 each, and have a longer range – 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) or more – than cheap commercial drones. Most have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ISPDS51347.2020.00041">swarming capability</a>, which allows multiple drones to attack a target and inflict greater damage. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a small light gray delta wing aircraft against a clear blue sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511804/original/file-20230222-703-qo5l8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Iranian-made Shahed-136 suicide drone seconds before it hit buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 17, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaUkraineWarIsraelsDilemma/2ae5098134ae4d73939da1f2585c47df/photo">AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Ukraine war, it’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/19/financial-toll-ukraine-downing-drones-vastly-exceeds-russia-costs">much more expensive to intercept loitering munitions than to deploy them</a>. Using MiG-29 jet fighters, C-300 cruise missiles and other Cold War-era weapons to stop these drones far exceeds the cost of the disposable robots. New high-tech battles of attrition could become a regular feature of future conflicts, with each side attempting to exhaust its enemy’s resources.</p>
<p>Loitering munitions hold another lesson. When used against civilians, low-altitude drones can unnerve an entire city. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ukraine-drones-shahed-136-iran/">Russia’s October 2022 drone attacks on Kyiv</a> not only killed four people, but they terrorized thousands more. A <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/publications/living-under-drones-death-injury-and-trauma-to-civilians-from-us-drone-practices-in-pakistan/">Stanford-NYU research project</a> on the long-term impact of America’s drone war in Pakistan reveals that it has deeply traumatized civilian populations.</p>
<h2>Remotely piloted aircraft</h2>
<p>Another class of drones includes those capable of flying longer distances – 124 miles (200 kilometers) or more – and at higher altitudes – 2.5 to 5 miles (4 to 8 kilometers) – than those mentioned above. They can also be armed with laser-guided missiles, boosting their lethality. In the Ukraine war, these drones – essentially remotely piloted fighter planes – include the Turkish-produced <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/05/16/the-turkish-drone-that-changed-the-nature-of-warfare">Bayraktar TB2</a>. The Ukrainian military has acquired several dozen, at a cost of about $5 million each. </p>
<p>Some call it the “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/948605a1-cf6c-40ea-b403-9a97d72be2cf">Toyota Corolla of drones</a>” because of its affordability and reliability. Among other things, the Bayraktar TB2 inspired a <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2022/07/22/what-ukraines-viral-drone-song-says-about-modern-day-warfare-and-resistance/">Ukrainian rap song</a> that went viral, pointing to the potential propaganda value of new technologies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a small uncrewed aircraft flies just above a runway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511807/original/file-20230222-1774-rvumv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ukrainian forces have made extensive use of the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-bayraktar-tb2-drone-is-pictured-flying-on-december-16-news-photo/1189007249">Birol Bebek/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Russian forces have used comparable drones, most notably the domestically produced <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38446/russias-predator-style-drone-with-big-export-potential-has-launched-its-first-missiles">Orion series</a>. Other drones in this class (none of which have been used in Ukraine) include the Israeli <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/hermes-multirole-high-performance-tactical-uas/">Hermes 450</a>, the American-made <a href="https://www.army-technology.com/projects/mq1c-gray-eagle-uas-us-army/">MQ-1C Gray Eagle</a>, China’s recently unveiled <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-drones-swarm-market-2017-11">Wing Loong 3</a> and dozens more. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/24/how-china-became-the-worlds-leading-exporter-of-combat-drones">China now surpasses Israel</a> as the world’s biggest drone exporter. Drone proliferation is likely to accelerate their battlefield presence.</p>
<h2>High-end military drones</h2>
<p>High-end drones aren’t likely to be used in Ukraine anytime soon. It’s hard to imagine that the Rolls-Royce of drones, the U.S.-made <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/aircraft/GlobalHawk/performance.html">RQ-4 Global Hawk</a>, will ever be deployed in Ukraine, given its high cost. (The $200 million behemoth is, in fact, powered by a Rolls-Royce AE 3700 turbofan engine).</p>
<p>But it’s plausible that one day, the U.S. government might provide Ukraine with <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator-uav/">RQ-9 Reapers</a>, which cost about $50 million apiece. And although China has so far been reluctant to send weapons to Russian forces, its state-of-the-art <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/ch-5.htm">CH-5 Rainbow</a> strike drones could dramatically alter the course of the war. This advanced aircraft would provide Russian troops with far greater firepower, endurance and range than its current drones.</p>
<h2>How drones are changing war</h2>
<p>Over the past 20 years, researchers have observed that drone warfare <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262534413/drone/">simultaneously stretches and compresses the battlefield</a>. It does so both physically and psychologically by increasing the geographic distance between targeter and targeted. When American forces launch drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen, the attacks are secret, targeted assassinations, more like <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/theory-of-drone">a form of hunting</a> than airstrikes on military targets. </p>
<p>But the ways in which drones are being used in Ukraine are strikingly different from how the U.S. has deployed them in the war on terror. In Ukraine, both sides use drones as a tactical technology for a range of missions, including battlefield surveillance, artillery spotting and attacking armored vehicles and missile launchers. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dgrX8w9Adao?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An interview in the field with Ukrainian drone pilots.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One year on, missiles and drones dominate the air war over Ukraine, raising the question: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153438336/russia-and-ukraine-battle-daily-in-the-sky-so-where-are-the-pilots">Where are the pilots</a>? Future wars may incorporate yet more advanced drones — and <a href="https://dronecenter.bard.edu/projects/counter-drone-systems-project/counter-drone-systems-2nd-edition/">counter-drone systems</a> for jamming command or GPS signals, or intercepting drones before they strike. Russia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/lesson-from-a-year-at-war-in-contrast-to-the-russians-ukrainians-master-a-mix-of-high-and-low-end-technology-on-the-battlefield-197853">failure to adequately use such systems</a> gave Ukrainian forces an edge in the early months of the war.</p>
<h2>Flying ‘killer robots’</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most troubling prospect is the possibility of a new global arms race in which the U.S., China, Russia, Iran, Israel, the European Union and others <a href="https://theconversation.com/war-in-ukraine-accelerates-global-drive-toward-killer-robots-198725">rush to develop fully autonomous drones</a>. The U.S. Air Force is already testing an <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/02/the-us-air-force-successfully-tested-this-ai-controlled-jet-fighter/">AI-controlled fighter jet</a>.</p>
<p>Several factors are driving this process. As GPS and control signal jammers become more sophisticated, drones are likely to become less reliant on remote control and more autonomous, using <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/s16050666">systems that incorporate AI</a>, such as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/engproc2021012067">simultaneous location and mapping</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6080185">LiDAR technology</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6080207">celestial navigation</a>. </p>
<p>Another factor propelling the long-term adoption of autonomous weapons is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/drones-airstrikes-ptsd.html">psychological impact of remote-controlled warfare on drone pilots</a>, many of whom suffer from serious mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder
after killing targeted people. To some observers, <a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/06/drone-pilot-ptsd/">autonomous drones might seem to offer a way of eliminating the psychological trauma of killing remotely</a>. Yet many rank-and-file soldiers and pilots are reluctant to use autonomous weapons because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15027570.2018.1481907">they don’t trust them</a>, something confirmed by <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520384767/war-virtually">my own research</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, there are ethical concerns: Autonomous weapons <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190905033.003.0008">tend to absolve humans of any responsibility for life-and-death decisions</a>. Who will be held accountable when an autonomous drone kills civilian noncombatants? </p>
<p>As the Ukraine war drags on — and as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/20/part-of-the-kill-chain-how-can-we-control-weaponised-robots">autonomous weapons research</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/war-in-ukraine-accelerates-global-drive-toward-killer-robots-198725">surges forward</a> — the possibility of a <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/drone-advances-amid-war-in-ukraine-could-bring-fighting-robots-to-front-lines">robot war</a> looms on the horizon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roberto J. González does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The war in Ukraine has dramatically increased the use of drones in warfare, from repurposed consumer quadcopters to flying bombs to remotely piloted warplanes.Roberto J. González, Professor of Anthropology, San José State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938092022-11-03T15:10:16Z2022-11-03T15:10:16ZUkraine war: what new missiles is Iran providing to Russia and what difference will they make?<p>It has been reported that Iran is preparing to transfer short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against targets in Ukraine, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/01/politics/iran-missiles-russia/index.html">allegedly as part of a shipment</a> of 1,000 additional weapons of unspecified type. Iran has allegedly already transferred a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia. Many of these drones have been used in Ukraine, although the Islamic Republic <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/19/iran-denies-allegations-that-it-supplied-russia-with-drones.html">has denied</a> involvement.</p>
<p>I have researched <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-the-problem-with-russias-sanctions-busting-arms-industry-182358">Russia’s military industrial complex</a> under sanctions, as well as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684527.2020.1778380">Iran’s procurement</a> for its own weapons programmes. This has led me to believe that the transfer of these systems, while allowing Russia to continue to inflict horrendous death and destruction against civilian populations and infrastructure in Ukraine, is unlikely to change the overall strategic balance. </p>
<p>Iranian “kamikaze” drones have been involved in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-social-media-0cc944fef471a425a862728b3dd0d8bc">attacks on Kyiv</a> and other targets in recent weeks. Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – a Iranian paramilitary unit – <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/iranian-revolutionary-guard-on-the-ground-aiding-russia-in-crimea-says-intelligence-report-12725990">have allegedly been sent to</a> Crimea to assist in operating the systems.</p>
<h2>Missiles for Moscow?</h2>
<p>The Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles allegedly being prepared for transfer by Iran to Russia are based on different technology to these UAVs already transferred. The range of the missile systems is shorter than those of the UAVs (<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/iranian-ballistic-missiles-disaster-ukraine-air-force-russia-1756066">300km-700km</a> as opposed to alleged <a href="https://twitter.com/defencehq/status/1569961850011262978?lang=en-GB">2,500km range</a> of the Shahed-136 UAV, for example). </p>
<p>But ballistic missiles travel at much higher speeds (often measured in km/second rather than km/hour). This makes defending against these systems and the explosive warheads they carry much more challenging – if not impossible – for Ukrainian forces with current capabilities. </p>
<p>Ukraine has reported it has been able to intercept <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/23/world/europe/ukraine-russia-drones-iran.html">more than 70%</a> of the propeller-driven Iranian UAVs using a mixture of fighter aircraft, air defence systems and even small arms fire. They would not be able to achieve anything like this success rate against ballistic missiles. </p>
<p>The Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar have similar characteristics as those ballistic missiles <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/28/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-updates-joe-biden-vladimir-putin-russian-nuclear-weapons-dirty-bomb-claim?page=with:block-635b8cf98f082fdc8beafd22">already fired</a> by Russia during the conflict to date, namely speed and ability to penetrate air defences.</p>
<h2>Why seek Iranian support?</h2>
<p>This is not the first time that Iran has transferred its missile technology to overseas customers. Since the 1980s the country has had a bilateral relationship with North Korea where technology has at some points <a href="https://www.iiss.org/blogs/survival-blog/2021/02/north-korea-iran-missile-cooperation">flowed in both directions</a>. It has also provided missiles to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/4/israel-confirms-airstrike-inside-syria">Hezbollah in Lebanon</a> and more recently to <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian-and-houthi-war-against-saudi-arabia">Houthi rebels</a> in Yemen. </p>
<p>But, despite a long history of political and commercial relations with Tehran, Russia is a new market for Iranian missile technology, and an unusual one given Russia’s vast military industrial complex. But the conflict in Ukraine has continually <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/russian-incompetence-surpassed-expectations-ukraine-ex-nato-commander-1744014">challenged orthodox views</a> of Russia’s perceived capabilities on the battlefield and in its weapons factories. </p>
<p>In seeking Iran’s support, Russia is likely trying to replenish stocks of missiles expended so far during the conflict, with <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-63247287">patterns of weapons use</a> suggesting that its arsenal may be depleted in certain areas. It is also trying to offset some of the challenges faced by the Russian defence industrial complex’s efforts to replenish stocks.</p>
<p>Russia’s weapons manufacturers are stretched to the limit by efforts to restock. The country also faces a wide-ranging arms embargo, which for many western states <a href="https://www.sipri.org/databases/embargoes/eu_arms_embargoes/Russia/EU-embargo-on-Russia">including the EU</a> dates back to the 2014 seizure of Crimea or before, and <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9483/">restrictions on the acquisition of dual-use technologies</a> tightened in February this year. </p>
<p>Russia has likely used illicit procurement networks – many run by Russian and before that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/25/world/a-trail-of-western-technology-is-followed-to-the-kgb-s-door.html">Soviet intelligence</a> – and long-practised tactics such as the use of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/abs/exploring-the-use-of-third-countries-in-proliferation-networks-the-case-of-malaysia/C8A766A657994027EF3B584E86FF72A4">front companies in third countries</a> to try to get around these restrictions. Western intelligence efforts have long tried to track these networks, occasionally obtaining insights into Russian technologies. </p>
<p>The insights provided by wreckage recovered from Ukraine, however, have been unprecedented. Remains of Russian weapons systems <a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/silicon-lifeline-western-electronics-heart-russias-war-machine/">recovered from Ukrainian battlefields</a> – missiles, drones, electronic warfare and other land systems – have been found to be rich in western technology illicitly procured from the international market place. </p>
<p>The same is true for <a href="https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1584476545912971264?s=20&t=LCduSLJBXNaZgIhEpilFlQ">Iranian drones</a>, 300 of which have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/28/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-updates-joe-biden-vladimir-putin-russian-nuclear-weapons-dirty-bomb-claim?page=with:block-635b8cf98f082fdc8beafd22">shot down in the past fortnight</a> according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.</p>
<p>Besides Russia’s need for weaponry, there are clearly political and diplomatic considerations for Vladimir Putin. Russia is highly isolated, and international political support for Moscow is coming from <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/13/un-condemns-russias-annexations-in-ukraine-how-countries-voted">a shrinking circle of states</a>. So Russia has turned to Iran and a small number of other countries on the periphery of the international system such as North Korea, which is <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/02/politics/north-korea-russia-ammunition/index.html">allegedly transferring</a> artillery ammunition to replenish Russian stocks.</p>
<p>While providing political benefits for Russia and reducing its isolation, the deal also brings economic benefits for Iran, which has faced significant international sanctions over the past decades, due to its nuclear programme. For both countries, then, bilateral trade will highly beneficial. Russia is thought <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/05/27/world/un-security-council-split/">likely to veto</a> any further UN sanctions against Iran. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The proliferation of Iranian ballistic missiles into the European theatre is not good news. Use of weapons on the battlefield can provide vendors a useful opportunity to test systems in new operational contexts, and could potentially act as a marketing opportunity to showcase these systems to other potential customers. </p>
<p>There are no easy options for countering these arms transfers. This will be especially true if the missiles can be delivered by air <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-iran-sanctions-drones-russia/32031980.html">like the UAVs</a> supplied by Iran appear to have been. Direct flights provide no opportunities for interdiction. </p>
<p>The US <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-iran-over-kamikaze-russian-drones">and partners</a> have imposed asset freezes, restrictions on travel and other business activities against Iranian drone manufacturers and operators – and may take new and further measures. They have <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/02/politics/north-korea-russia-ammunition/index.html">stated they will continue</a> efforts to disrupt Iran’s networks. </p>
<p>We may also see the US <a href="https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/long-arm">return to extraterritorial tools</a> used in the past to get at parts of these transnational networks based overseas. This includes sting operations, civil asset seizures and information operations. Essentially, the “cat and mouse” game between the US and its allies and Russia and its suppliers will continue – but with new targets and heightened energy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Salisbury receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust for a three-year project on arms embargoes.</span></em></p>Iran has showcased these new weapons, with deadly result, in Yemen and Lebanon.Daniel Salisbury, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Science and Security Studies, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1933012022-10-27T01:16:50Z2022-10-27T01:16:50ZDrone delivery is a thing now. But how feasible is having it everywhere, and would we even want it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492012/original/file-20221027-23886-7u3iex.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C238%2C2982%2C2007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wing</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, cafes, supermarkets and online shops have started to trial drone delivery in a handful of locations around the world. More than a <a href="https://builtin.com/drones/drone-delivery-companies">dozen drone delivery companies</a> are now running such trials.</p>
<p>Just this week, Wing (owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet) announced a partnership with Australian supermarket giant Coles to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/qld-supermarket-drone-delivery-available-gold-coast-/101573808">deliver small items via drone to customers close to a Gold Coast supermarket</a>. Wing is already operating in parts of Canberra and Logan, Queensland. </p>
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<p>Given the technical success of various trials so far, it is worth exploring whether drone delivery might become mainstream and can actually be scaled up geographically.</p>
<p>As you would expect, the answer is “it depends”. There are many issues when considering drones around people, such as safety and infrastructure. For example, a recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-30/food-delivery-drone-lands-on-power-lines-qld-browns-plains/101489670">crash of a delivery drone on electricity lines</a> in a suburb of Logan left thousands without power.</p>
<p>There is also potential <a href="https://theconversation.com/drones-to-deliver-incessant-buzzing-noise-and-packages-116257">unwanted noise</a> and visual pollution, and a perceived issue around privacy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/privatising-the-sky-drone-delivery-promises-comfort-and-speed-but-at-a-cost-to-workers-and-communities-166960">Privatising the sky: drone delivery promises comfort and speed, but at a cost to workers and communities</a>
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<h2>Safety first</h2>
<p>Adding potentially dozens of small aircraft to the sky above our homes, workplaces and roads each day is a serious business. As you would hope, currently the operation of commercial drones is a highly regulated undertaking in most countries. </p>
<p>In Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/drones/industry-initiatives/drone-delivery-services">has strict regulations</a> that aim to make the operation of drones as safe as possible. They also <em>prohibit</em> drone use if the craft can’t be used safely in a given situation.</p>
<p>In fact, Australia was one of the first countries to have drone regulations. For example, you cannot fly a drone close to an airport, or directly over people.</p>
<p>Commercial operators of drones are acutely aware of this and gain a licence to operate – it is not in anyone’s interest to operate unsafely, and it would be bad for business.</p>
<h2>A limited geographic market – for now</h2>
<p>To satisfy the requirement of operating drones safely, delivery operators focus on flying drones over unpopulated land, generally very low-density areas, and in particular the urban fringe. These are newer suburbs where drone flight paths can be planned to eliminate or minimise safety issues, such as an unexpected crash. </p>
<p>It is no coincidence Wing has been running drone delivery trials in low-density areas of Southeast Queensland, and outer <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6009932/wings-delivery-drone-service-gets-the-green-light/">Canberra suburbs</a>. These places are ideal for drone delivery and a great place to continue to develop this business, even if the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-11/wing-resumes-drone-deliveries-after-raven-attacks/100689690">odd bird attack can disrupt things</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1442603431672225796"}"></div></p>
<p>But drone delivery in dense parts of major cities? This is very unlikely in the medium term, due to extreme difficulty in safely operating drones in dense suburbs.</p>
<p>If you live in an apartment building, where would the delivery take place? On the roof? Maybe, if your building was set up for it. This is where scaling up faces the largest difficulties, and the logistics of running potentially hundreds of drones from a distribution centre become truly challenging.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Zipline and Walmart team up for drone delivery.</span></figcaption>
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<p>However, if there was a high demand for it, and the right investments were made, it is feasible that drone delivery to dense city areas could be achieved.</p>
<p>But just because it might be technically possible, doesn’t mean it <em>will</em> happen. The long-term business case would need to make sense, of course. But there is a more critical issue in the near term – the <a href="https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-social-license-to-operate/">social licence to operate</a>.</p>
<h2>A social licence</h2>
<p>A social licence is not an official thing, a government body does not issue one. It is more about whether the general public accepts and supports the new thing.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, this social acceptance is what often determines the success or failure of widespread uptake of new technology, such as delivery drones. </p>
<p>Take nuclear power, for example. Many countries have nuclear power and the public there seem happy with that. Other countries had a social licence for nuclear power and lost it, such as Japan. In Australia we do not have a social licence for nuclear power, but that does not mean we won’t gain it in the future. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-divestments-to-protests-social-licence-is-the-key-33576">From divestments to protests, social licence is the key</a>
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<p>A social licence is an ever-evolving construct based on the pros and cons of a technology, all of which is influenced by its perceived value. Most people are now seemingly comfortable to be tracked 24 hours a day by their smartphones, as they believe the benefits outweigh the potential negative impacts.</p>
<p>It is likely we already have a solid social licence to use drones to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-022-00053-9">deliver emergency life-saving medicine</a> to people in need. In a potential life-or-death situation like that, it is easy to see that normally the benefits outweigh any risks or inconvenience to others.</p>
<p>But delivering a coffee or a tube of toothpaste by drone? I think the social licence for that is up for grabs. At this point in time, it could go either way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Roberts is Director of the Australian Cobotics Centre, the Technical Director of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub, and is a Chief Investigator at the QUT Centre for Robotics. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He was the co-founder of the UAV Challenge - an international drone competition.</span></em></p>In a few Australian suburbs, a cup of coffee or toothpaste can now arrive via the air. But that doesn’t mean drones are going to be widespread – for now.Jonathan Roberts, Professor in Robotics, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1514212020-12-21T12:00:41Z2020-12-21T12:00:41ZMake drones sound less annoying by factoring in humans at the design stage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375703/original/file-20201217-21-j6xjzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=226%2C670%2C5615%2C3314&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drone-transportation-camera-controls-highway-road-1082058548">Shutterstock/DmitryKalinovsky</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days almost everyone has either flown a drone or listened to the nasty whining sound they produce. Although small drones (up to 20kg) are <a href="https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49647">about 40 decibels quieter</a> than conventional civil aircraft, they produce a high pitched noise – which people tend to find very annoying. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170005870/downloads/20170005870.pdf">Nasa study</a> found that drone sounds were more annoying than those made by road vehicles. And <a href="http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/59114/">my own research</a> has found that the noise of drones is less preferable than that of civil aircraft – even at the same volume.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that drones often fly at relatively low altitudes over populated areas that are not normally exposed to aircraft noise. This is likely to lead to tensions within the <a href="https://bonythonagainstdrones.com/">exposed communities</a>. Unquestionably, if the noise issues are not tackled appropriately, they could derail the wider adoption and commercialisation of drones and put at risk the significant societal benefits that they could bring.</p>
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<p>For example, small to medium size drones are already used for multiple applications such as <a href="https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/press/news-2020/new-research-projects-to-explore-use-of-drones-for-medical-delivery-purposes">medical deliveries</a> and the search for <a href="https://skyports.net/2020/01/skyports-to-the-rescue-using-drones-to-help-the-emergency-services/">missing persons</a>. Another innovation in commercial aviation is the development of electrical vertical takeoff and landing (and possibly autonomous) vehicles to <a href="https://www.uber.com/in/en/elevate/uberair/">transport people in cities</a>. </p>
<p>Several “urban air mobility” vehicles, or “flying taxis” are currently being developed by <a href="https://evtol.com/news/urban-air-mobility-concepts-showcased-nbaa/">different aircraft manufacturers</a>. Both drones and flying taxis will produce sounds significantly different from conventional civil aircraft and will share similar issues regarding noise annoyance.</p>
<p>In 2019, I started a line of research which aimed to answer two big questions: how will communities react to these new vehicles with unconventional noise signatures when they begin to operate at scale? And how can the design of these new vehicles be improved to protect the health and the quality of life of the people living in those communities?</p>
<p>To answer the first question, we investigated how a drone operation could influence the perception of a series of <a href="http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/53180/?template=banner">typical sound environments in cities</a>. As drones cannot be <a href="https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code/where-you-can-fly">flown closer to people than 50m</a>, virtual reality techniques were used to produce highly realistic scenarios with a drone hovering in a selection of urban locations. </p>
<p>This laboratory study found that the noise generated by the hovering of a small quad-copter significantly affected the perception of the sound environment. For instance, an important increase in noise annoyance was reported with the drone hovering, particularly in locations with low volumes of road traffic. This suggested that the noise produce by road traffic could make drone noise less noticeable. So the operation of drones along busy roads might mitigate the increase of noise impact caused in the community.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1080959993392889856"}"></div></p>
<p>We are now testing a wide variety of drones, with different operating manoeuvres. We seek to better understand and predict human responses to the drone sounds and to gather meaningful evidence to further develop the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R0945&from=EN">regulation of the sounds they produce</a>.</p>
<h2>Perception-influenced engineering</h2>
<p>By integrating human responses into the design process, the most undesirable noises can be avoided in the earliest stages of vehicle development.</p>
<p>This can either be done directly with subjective testing (human participants assessing and providing feedback for a series of drone noise samples) or through the use of so-called <a href="http://hub.salford.ac.uk/sirc-acoustics/psychoacoustics/sound-quality-making-products-sound-better/an-introduction-to-sound-quality-testing/sound-quality-metrics/">psycho-acoustic metrics</a> which are widely adopted in the automotive industry. These metrics allow an accurate representation of how different sound features (pitch, temporal variations, tones) are perceived. We want to use them to inform the design of drones. For instance, optimising the position of rotors to make drones sound less annoying.</p>
<p>The combination of virtual reality techniques and psycho-acoustic methods to inform the design and operation of drones will avoid costly and inefficient ad-hoc corrections at later stages, going beyond the traditional approach for aircraft noise assessment. But more importantly, if drone manufacturers incorporate these strategies into their designs, they might just build machines that are not only efficient, but also, just that little bit less irritating.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonio J Torija Martinez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’ve devised a way to factor in noise annoyance levels in drone design.Antonio J Torija Martinez, Lecturer in Acoustic Engineering, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1245882019-10-07T19:11:55Z2019-10-07T19:11:55ZAerial threat: why drone hacking could be bad news for the military<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295733/original/file-20191007-121060-wgs9s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C5089%2C2866&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are military drones a security threat to their own operators?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/military-staging-base-army-engineer-soldiers-761939488">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly called drones, are now a <a href="https://www.army.gov.au/our-work/equipment-of-the-army/surveillance/unmanned-aerial-vehicles">fundamental part of defence force capability</a>, from intelligence gathering to unmanned engagement in military operations. But what happens if our own technology is turned against us?</p>
<p>Between 2015 and 2022, the global commercial drone market is <a href="https://store.frost.com/analysis-of-the-drone-delivery-landscape-and-the-evolving-business-opportunities-2018.html">expected to grow from A$5.95 billion to A$7.47 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Drones are now being used in a host of applications, including <a href="https://esriaustralia.com.au/esri-australia-blog/using-drones-in-agriculture-how-to-get-started-blg-160">agriculture</a>, <a href="https://dronelife.com/2018/08/07/drones-are-becoming-a-filmmakers-tool/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011">parcel delivery</a>, and <a href="https://www.airforce.gov.au/technology/aircraft/intelligence-surveillance-and-reconnaissance/mq-4c-triton-unmanned-aircraft">defence</a>. </p>
<p>However, as with all IT technology, manufacturers and users may leave the digital doors unlocked. This potentially leaves <a href="https://threatpost.com/drones-breach-cyberdefenses/143075/">opportunities for cyber-criminals</a> and perhaps even cyber-warfare.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/police-drones-can-we-trust-the-eyes-in-the-skies-53981">Police drones: can we trust the eyes in the skies?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Imagine a defence operation in which a drone is sent out to spy on enemy territory. The enemy identifies the drone but instead of disabling it, compromises the sensors (vision, sonar, and so on) to inject false data. Acting upon such data could then result in inappropriate tactics and, in a worst case scenario, may even lead to avoidable casualties.</p>
<p>UK cybersecurity consultant James Dale <a href="https://www.paconsulting.com/newsroom/expert-quotes/threat-post-drones-are-quickly-becoming-a-cybersecurity-nightmare-25-march-2019/">warned earlier this year</a> that “equipment is now available to hack drones so they can bypass technology controls”.</p>
<p>Drones are relatively cheap technologies for military use – certainly cheaper than the use of satellites for surveillance. Off-the-shelf drones can be used to gather intelligence, without any significant development effort.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, governments have cracked down on illegal civilian drone use, and imposed no-fly zones around secure infrastructure such as airports. Drone manufacturers have been forced to provide “geofencing” software to avoid situations such as the recent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/kamikaze-drones-believed-used-in-saudi-arabia-oil-field-strike-2019-9?r=US&IR=T">drone strike in a Saudi oil field</a>. However, cyber criminals are smart enough to bypass such controls and openly provide services to help consumers get past government and military-enforced no-fly zones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295544/original/file-20191004-52796-g71sle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It doesn’t cost much to skirt around the no-fly rules.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Russian software company <a href="http://www.coptersafe.com/">Coptersafe</a> sells such modifications for a few hundred dollars. Anyone can buy a drone from a retail store, purchase the modifications, and then send their drone into no-fly zones such as military bases and airports. Ironically, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2127577/mysterious-drone-swarm-attacks-military-base-syria-exposing">Russia’s military base in Syria came under attack from drones last year</a>.</p>
<h2>Australia on the frontline</h2>
<p>Australia is at the frontier of the military drone revolution, equipping itself with a fleet of hundreds of new drones. Lieutenant Colonel Keirin Joyce, discussing the program in a recent <a href="https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/strike-air-combat/2151-podcast-eye-in-the-sky-keirin-joyce-lieutenant-colonel-so1-uas-army-uas-drone-sub-program-manager">defence podcast</a>, declared Australia will soon be “the most unmanned [air vehicle] army in the world per capita”.</p>
<p>It will be essential to safeguard every single component of this sophisticated unmanned aerial fleet from cyber attack.</p>
<p>When drones were developed, cyber security was not a priority. Let’s explore a few potential threats to drone technology:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>drone navigation is based on the Global Positioning System (GPS). It’s possible an attacker can break the encryption of this communication channel. Fake signals can be fed to the targeted drone and the drone effectively gets lost. This type of attack can be launched without being in close physical proximity</p></li>
<li><p>with knowledge of the flight controller systems, hackers can gain access using “brute force” attacks. Then, the captured video footage can be manipulated to mislead the operator and influence ground operations</p></li>
<li><p>a drone fitted with sensors could be manipulated by injecting rogue signals. For example, the gyroscopes on a drone can be misled using an external source of audio energy. Cyber criminals may take advantage of this design characteristic to create false sensor readings</p></li>
<li><p>drones’ onboard control systems are effectively small computers. Drone control systems (onboard and ground-based controllers) are also vulnerable to malicious software or Maldrone (malware for drones). The founder and CTO of CloudSEK, Rahul Sasi discovered a backdoor in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot_AR.Drone">Parrot AR.Drone</a>. Using malicious software, an attacker can establish remote communication and can take control of the drone. Attackers can also inject false data to mislead the operators. This type of malware can be installed silently without any visible sign to the operators. The consequences are significant if the drones are used for military operations.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eye-in-the-sky-and-the-moral-dilemmas-of-modern-warfare-56989">Eye in the Sky and the moral dilemmas of modern warfare</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As with traditional cyber-crime, it’s likely 2019 will see a sharp rise in drone-related incidents. However, these security breaches should not discourage the use of drones for personal, industrial or military applications. Drones are great tools in the era of <a href="https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/drones-in-smart-cities-55717/">smart cities</a>, for instance. </p>
<p>But we should not forget the potential for cyber crime – and nowhere are the stakes higher than in military drone use. Clearly, the use of drones needs to be carefully regulated. And the first step is for the government and the Australian Defence Force to be fully aware of the risks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Drones are now an integral part of defence force capability, from intelligence gathering to unmanned theatre engagement. But what happens if our own technology is turned against us?Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lecturer of Computing & Security, Edith Cowan UniversityPaul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1147012019-04-11T10:42:07Z2019-04-11T10:42:07ZDon’t shoot! That drone overhead probably isn’t invading your privacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267890/original/file-20190405-180017-jcyt63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C135%2C4121%2C2603&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is this drone a threat?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drone-usage-private-property-protection-real-1109455850">ungvar/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first commercial medical drones are taking flight in the U.S., <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/613255/the-first-commercial-drone-delivery-scheme-in-the-us-is-already-flying/">delivering blood samples and other medical specimens</a> from a clinic to a lab in North Carolina. Right now, they’re just on one hospital campus and not flying over private homes or businesses. But that’s coming soon. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ov4kMJoAAAAJ&hl=en">our research</a> about <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KLxkNFQAAAAJ&hl=en">consumer perceptions</a> of aircraft, we’ve found that in general, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenrice1/2019/02/04/eyes-in-the-sky-the-public-has-privacy-concerns-about-drones/#442295946984">people don’t want drones flying over their homes</a>. Helicopters and planes are less of a concern, because they’re usually so high and far away – and people who live near airports are <a href="https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/noise_emissions/airport_aircraft_noise_issues/">more worried about noise</a> than being spied on.</p>
<p>People see drones, however, as different. They often carry video equipment and are sometimes hard to detect due to their small size. In addition, they can hover for long periods of time, whereas manned aircraft tend to move along quickly. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0031">Most people we’ve surveyed express some fear about drones</a> – or their operators – violating their privacy by <a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/peeping-drones-spying-on-people-in-st-louis/63-548590075">hovering nearby</a> and <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/aerial/18752/woman-confronted-by-peeping-drone-outside-bedroom-window">potentially videotaping them</a>. That has <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2018/09/03/drone-gripes-mount-homeowners-complain-breached-privacy-annoyance/1117085002/">certainly</a> <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/national/florida-peeping-tom-uses-drone-spy-women-high-rise-police-say/hDUjd4fP7QhwkQo6ReNlpO/">happened</a>.</p>
<p>We have found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2017-0011">women are generally more concerned than men</a>, particularly when they assume that the drone can take photos or videos. Some people have been so concerned about drones – especially when they lack clear indication of who owns them or are afraid the government is spying on them – that <a href="https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/shoot-drones/">they’ve shot down drones flying over their yards</a>. There are even some <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nz7jj7/this-is-the-first-anti-drone-weapon-designed-for-use-in-the-united-states">companies developing anti-drone weapons</a> designed specifically for these situations.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Not yet available for public use: DroneDefender.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So far, shooting down a drone <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/04/man-takes-drone-out-for-a-sunset-flight-drone-gets-shot-down/">has not been punished as harshly</a> as shooting at a manned aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration has tried to address some public concerns with <a href="https://www.uasjournal.org/sites/default/files/articles/UASJournal-Vol4-Issue1-ison-loffi-vance-wallace.pdf">rules governing personal drones</a> and <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=22615">commercial drone flights</a>. But if drone use is really ever going to take off – both privately and in businesses – the rules need to be a lot clearer for everyone. </p>
<h2>What are drones allowed to do?</h2>
<p>In most communities, there are not explicit rules on what drone operators are and aren’t allowed to do with their aircraft. The <a href="https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=22615">FAA’s general rules</a> ban drones from flying more than 400 feet above the ground, or over people, or above public events. Operators also have to keep their drones in sight at all times.</p>
<p>Drones that are flying for legitimate reasons are usually going to follow a logical path associated with their purpose, like following a pipeline route, surveying property boundaries or examining construction sites. They may hover from time to time, to let operators get a better view of something, but they probably aren’t spying on you – unless they clearly violate reasonable expectations, like following you around a neighborhood or hovering right outside a bedroom window or above a person sunbathing in the yard.</p>
<p>Not every drone flying near your home is feeding video to a peeping Tom. It’s worth remembering that there are, in fact, legitimate reasons drones might be flying around near your home.</p>
<h2>Do you hear sirens?</h2>
<p><a href="https://uavcoach.com/police-drones/">Police agencies around the country use drones</a> to assist with documenting crime scenes, help with event-security planning or <a href="https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/unmanned/drones-assist-with-police-standoff-crime-scene-mapping/">assist officers with a standoff</a>. Even though these drones are government-owned and usually equipped with cameras, most likely they’re not trying to invade your privacy.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IJYxiJMYFuc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Drones deliver lifesaving blood to patients in Rwanda.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Police, fire and medical services are very interested in using drones for rapid responses to emergencies. <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2019/01/18/drones-deliver-medical-supplies-united-states/">They can fly medicine and equipment</a> into areas where ambulances, and potentially even helicopters, cannot easily go. In <a href="http://fortune.com/2019/01/07/delivery-drones-rwanda/">Rwanda, drones can deliver a package of fresh blood</a> to anywhere in the western half of the country in less than an hour. </p>
<p>Drones can also <a href="https://theconversation.com/autonomous-drones-can-help-search-and-rescue-after-disasters-109760">help responders plan rescue efforts</a>, identifying areas hit hardest and finding victims in need of aid. People in the affected area can even communicate with drone operators by holding up signs for the cameras. </p>
<h2>Is a neighbor’s house for sale?</h2>
<p>When listing a home for sale, real estate agents typically arrange for a professional to photograph the home, which helps showcase it to potential buyers. Some agents – for some properties, like larger estates – may want to include aerial photos of the house and land. In the past, this was usually done from a helicopter, at the cost of several hundred dollars.</p>
<p>Now, though, it’s cheaper and faster to <a href="http://www.droneguru.net/using-drones-for-real-estate-photography/">fly a small drone above the property</a>. To get the best views, the drone may need to fly off to one side, potentially hovering over a property next door. But if used legitimately for real estate purposes, the cameras are pointed toward the house for sale – not toward the neighbor’s windows.</p>
<h2>Is there construction nearby?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267891/original/file-20190405-180010-5ekjmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At times, drones can visit high places on construction sites more easily than people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drone-operated-by-construction-worker-on-1038791134">Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://blog.dronedeploy.com/the-rise-of-drones-in-construction-5357b69942fa">Construction companies sometimes use drones</a> to make sure employees are working safely and using tools properly. Drones can also inspect work in high areas that are hard to reach, like roofing details. In some parts of the country, builders are putting up huge suburban developments and <a href="https://blog.dronedeploy.com/the-rise-of-drones-in-construction-5357b69942fa">keeping an eye on everything</a> with drones. When they fly from one building site to another, they might pass over finished homes that are already occupied, on their way to check out the work at neighboring properties.</p>
<h2>Do young kids live in your neighborhood?</h2>
<p>Parents may also want to remotely monitor their children at nearby properties like parks. Some parents who may have been reluctant to let their kids explore the neighborhood are finding comfort with <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/1203/Helicopter-parent-Techy-dad-builds-drone-to-hover-over-kid">drones to help them keep watch</a>. Some schools are also using <a href="https://www.nfhs.org/articles/legal-issues-related-to-use-of-drones-in-high-school-sports/">drones to keep an eye on kids during recess and sports</a> activities.</p>
<h2>Are you expecting a package?</h2>
<p>Delivery drones aren’t yet common, though they’re being tested in various places around the world. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/delivery-companies-embracing-drone-technology-2018-6">Many companies want to use them to deliver packages</a>, pizza, medications and other items. Within a few years, drones may be buzzing up and down local streets, ferrying all sorts of items to and from homes and businesses. This may be annoying at first, but every drone that goes by means one less car on the road – and less pollution, less traffic congestion and safer streets for cyclists, pedestrians and your children.</p>
<h2>One’s overhead right now – what to do?</h2>
<p>There are plenty of other perfectly innocent and legal reasons a drone might fly low over your home or yard. Recently, a man was <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/02/24/arrest-shooting-drone-missing-dog/">arrested for shooting down a drone</a> that was being used by members of a community group to search for a missing dog. </p>
<p>If you suspect someone is using a drone to spy on you, you should know that under federal law, it is <a href="https://www.popsci.com/it-is-federal-crime-to-shoot-down-drone-says-faa">illegal to grab a gun and shoot it down</a>, even if the drone’s operator is <a href="https://www.dorsey.com/newsresources/publications/client-alerts/2017/09/the-legality-of-downing-a-drone">violating state laws</a> about where and how they can fly. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504325">Some legal experts argue that self-defense</a> should be a legitimate reason, but this is a gray area. So before reaching for ammunition, think about staying out of trouble.</p>
<p>If you’re worried the drone might be invading your privacy, or about to do so, you should be able to spot the operator, because they have to be able to see their drone. If you can get a photo of the drone, the police should be able to track down the operator because most <a href="https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/">drones must be registered with the FAA</a> and clearly marked with their registration number.</p>
<p>And of course, if you feel under immediate threat, call 911.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114701/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Rice has received funding from the United States Air Force and the FAA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mattie Milner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nobody has yet figured out what the rules are for drones or what constitutes ‘good manners’ for drone operators. But there are legitimate reasons a drone might be near your home.Stephen Rice, Associate Professor of Human Factors, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityMattie Milner, Ph.D. Candidate in Human Factors, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1035642018-09-20T13:04:26Z2018-09-20T13:04:26ZAI could help drones ride air currents like birds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237309/original/file-20180920-129853-11ivv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airbus Perlan Mission II surpasses U</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Birds have long inspired humans to create their own ways to fly. We know that soaring bird species that migrate long distances <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1996.tb04768.x">use thermal updrafts</a> to stay in the air without using up energy flapping their wings. And glider pilots similarly use thermals currents and other areas of rising air in order to remain airborne for longer.</p>
<p>Yet, while we’ve mastered gliding through these updrafts using various instruments, the exact mechanisms that allow birds to soar are still unknown. But a team of researchers from California and Italy have made some telling steps towards answering this question using artificial intelligence (AI). And it could lead to new developments in navigation systems for aircraft, with particular implications for creating drones that can stay airborne for very long periods of time.</p>
<p>The aim of the study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0533-0">published in Nature</a>, was to train a small two-metre wingspan autonomous glider to fly in thermals, just like a real bird would. The glider was programmed with a kind of AI known as machine learning that enabled it to work out how to use the air currents to stay in the air for longer.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-heres-what-you-need-to-know-to-understand-how-machines-learn-72004">Machine learning is</a> an alternative approach to programming a computer to do a complex task. Rather than feeding a computer (or autonomous glider in this case) a set of instructions telling it how to do something, you tell the computer how you would like it to respond and reward it when it does the right thing.</p>
<p>Over time it will learn what things are rewarded and will tend to do these behaviours instead. This technique is how computer programs such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/googles-latest-go-victory-shows-machines-are-no-longer-just-learning-theyre-teaching-78410">Google’s AlphaGo</a> can learn to play the board game Go and then beat professional players, a feat simply not possible with conventional programming techniques.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237311/original/file-20180920-129877-b14y1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Glider pilots look for updrafts to stay airborne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pilot-cockpit-sailplane-534807142?src=LghAxCLs1rd3ywHXSzZsCQ-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>This type of machine learning is called <a href="https://medium.freecodecamp.org/an-introduction-to-reinforcement-learning-4339519de419">reinforcement learning</a> and it relies on a large amount of input data being fed to the computer in order for it to learn what actions will provide it with rewards. For the researchers programming the autonomous glider, the input data consisted of specialised instruments capable of reading the change in upwards (vertical) wind strength. The instruments were able to determine these changes along the length of the glider (longitudinally) and from one wing tip to the other (laterally). The sensors were able to make these measurements ten times every second.</p>
<p>This data was then used to make flight adjustments to what is known as the bank angle of the of the glider. A well-balanced aeroplane with its wings level has zero bank angle and will fly in a straight line. Tilting the wings and increasing the bank angle will make the plane turn. In the study, the glider was rewarded if the change in upward wind speed along its flight path increased. In other words, if the glider was flying into an updraft. </p>
<p>Updrafts are key to increasing the amount of time a glider can stay airborne. Unlike a powered aeroplane, a glider not able to find any updrafts will gradually fall toward the ground. Whether or not the glider is falling or rising depends directly upon how much air is moving upwards around it. In an updraft, the increase in vertical air movement can be enough to stop the glider falling and, if the vertical wind is strong enough, allow it to climb. </p>
<p>Over the course of a number of flights (about 16 hours of flying in total), the study glider learnt to fly by training itself that under a certain combination of inputs (bank angle, longitudinal and lateral change vertical wind speed) to decide what the next change in bank angle should be. The result was that by the end of all that flying the plane had taught itself how to fly into updrafts, allowing it to stay in the air for longer.</p>
<p>As a bonus, the researchers used a numerical model to show this approach would benefit larger gliders even more, since their longer wingspan will provide a more accurate measurement of the change in upwards wind speed from one wing tip to another.</p>
<h2>Making aircraft smarter</h2>
<p>The results raise the question of what possible futuristic autonomous gliders we could see gliding around and what would they be used for. Engineers at MIT recently <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2018/albatross-robot-takes-flight-0518">took inspiration</a> from the aerodynamics of the wave-riding albatross to design an autonomous glider. </p>
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<p>Airbus has developed a solar-powered glider that can remain airborne for very long periods of time as an alternative to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/pseudo-satellite-drone-can-fly-70-000-feet-sky-ncna894071">surveillance or communications satellites</a>, for example that could broadcast internet signals to remote locations on the ground. Microsoft is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/technology/microsoft-teaches-autonomous-gliders-to-make-decisions-on-the-fly.html?_r=0">reportedly working</a> on autonomous planes with state-of-the-art artificial intelligent navigation systems.</p>
<p>But perhaps the techniques developed in this study could one day lead to a new generation of “smart” navigation and autopilot systems for conventional aircraft. These could use data gathered over thousands of hours of flying time to make decision about the most efficient way to get around. This would rely on accurate sensors and further development that would allow a plane to identify and then hop from one thermal updraft to another. At the moment, the method only allows gliding inside a single thermal.</p>
<p>The methods and programming techniques developed in by the researchers will undoubtedly bring us a step closer to the goal of an autonomous flying vehicle with flight times of days, weeks or months carrying out these tasks. But it is the use of reinforcement learning that once again shows how flexible these algorithms are at adapting to a wide range of complex tasks, from controlling a glider to beating a human at Go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows how smart aircraft can learn to use updrafts of warm air to stay in the sky.Nicholas Martin, Senior Lecturer in Aerodynamics, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/991932018-07-13T10:04:33Z2018-07-13T10:04:33ZDo drones deserve their dire reputation? Depends who is flying them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226567/original/file-20180707-122247-16728nv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/no-drone-flight-sign-on-fence-1127021549?src=yS-jQwTI3aVhxlEUbZkUoA-6-27">shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether they are dropping drugs into prison yards, narrowly avoiding passenger aircraft or invading the privacy of unsuspecting homeowners, drones have been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.</p>
<p>There has been an explosion in the popularity of commercially available drones in recent years. Google Images and other photography sites are now flooded with high-contrast aerial shots and gleaming panoramas, all sourced from invariably high-resolution on-board cameras. </p>
<p>But these spectacular views have come at a price. Drones have gained a poor reputation, especially in cities. As the name suggests, drones give off a <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140944-buzz-of-drones-is-more-annoying-than-any-other-kind-of-vehicle/">distinctive and often unpleasant humming sound</a> that can reverberate through densely populated areas. On a more sinister note, drones can furtively peep through the windows of any residence like a mobile, motorised Big Brother. Given that drones can be flown from a great distance, it may be impossible to identify who lurks behind the lens.</p>
<p>Drones can be annoying and invasive, but they can also be actively dangerous. Near misses between drones and piloted aircraft more than tripled between 2015 and 2017 – usually because of lack of due care from the drone user.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225607/original/file-20180701-116135-hpk7dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watchful security guard, or motorised drug mule?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drone-monitoring-barbed-wire-fence-on-790134829?src=IOwbjTikLPcWJjA4yBr7lQ-1-75">shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Drones also present a growing security threat. Although the average drone can’t carry anything heavy enough to do significant harm, there is a real concern that they might be weaponised. In 2015, a drone breached White House security and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/us/white-house-drone.html">landed on the presidential lawn</a>. Although it was accidental, The Department of Homeland Security has now had to consider the dangers of drones bearing potentially lethal loads.</p>
<h2>Unfairly maligned</h2>
<p>So yes, the rise of the drone has prompted some serious concern, but, if properly regulated, drones might still be able to do more good than harm. Drones present a unique opportunity to cover difficult ground quickly and safely, providing timely information about their environment without major cost or risk to life and limb.</p>
<p>To give just one example, they will play a crucial role in the increasing prominence of offshore wind power, of which the UK is <a href="https://www.electricalreview.co.uk/news/5973-118097">the world leader</a>. The Dogger Bank Project extends 125km off the Yorkshire coast, and occupies 1,114km² of sea. In such a harsh environment the infrastructure requires regular assessment – and drones could “live” on site, sending a steady stream of images of the condition of the turbines and other equipment to engineers on the mainland.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225611/original/file-20180701-116152-9pbym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A drone’s eye view of the Singapore cityscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-shot-drone-singapore-city-725765074?src=Mvxq8vZqRA5ixrZp6YY9_g-1-0">shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Drones are invaluable across a wide array of fields. <a href="https://www.governmenteuropa.eu/robots-internet-things-asparagus-farming/88623/">In agriculture</a>, farmers can use drones to identify and selectively target areas requiring fertiliser, saving the farmer money and protecting the environment from secondary contamination. Some countries are already using drones in search and rescue operations – they can cover more ground more quickly, in greater detail and with fewer resources than their human counterparts. In conservation, drones allow researchers to immerse themselves in difficult habitats <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/13/technology/drones-counting-wildlife-conservation/index.html">without significantly disturbing the wildlife</a>, and provide round-the-clock surveillance in areas <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-china-poaching/flying-squad-with-drones-and-machetes-chinas-green-vigilantes-combat-bird-poachers-idUSKBN1JP009">threatened by poaching</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drones-are-helping-in-the-fight-against-malaria-97197">How drones are helping in the fight against malaria</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The ongoing <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-44767687">moors fires</a> around Manchester have crippled a wide area of countryside, hampering emergency services in their efforts to monitor and manage the flames. Step forward: the drone. Well piloted devices could be surveying such areas without much difficulty, picking up crucial early-warning signs and pinpointing key areas to target to bring any blaze quickly under control.</p>
<h2>Damage limitation</h2>
<p>Drones, therefore, are a double-edged sword. Like a candlestick or a piece of lead piping, their value comes down to how and where they are used – and by whom. How can we minimise their capacity to disturb, irritate and endanger, while retaining the benefits they bring for science, commerce and the emergency services?</p>
<p>First, hobbyists must follow the “<a href="http://dronesafe.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Dronecode.pdf">drone code</a>”, which outlines basic measures for flying safely and legally. The UK has already begun to regulate drone use, including mandatory registration for every drone owner. Ultimately, the measures must attach the identity of the pilot to the actual, physical drone, so that the owner can be electronically identified in the same way that the owner of a car can be traced from its registration plate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225610/original/file-20180701-116152-gc8i9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Drones can traverse difficult terrain far more efficiently than any human.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTUzMDUxNzg5OSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMzUzMDU5NjY3IiwiayI6InBob3RvLzM1MzA1OTY2Ny9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOjEsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiVWYxR3pFU1hkVWZoc29xYUhpRWhMU1Z6RWJNIl0%2Fshutterstock_353059667.jpg&pi=33421636&m=353059667&src=3FpbFXG9XCKcO4XQD25lbw-1-23">shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Drones operating in more remote environments present different challenges – particularly that of keeping them away from air traffic. One solution would be to use <a href="https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Automatic_Dependent_Surveillance_(ADS)">automatic dependent surveillance</a> – a technique by which an aircraft’s trajectory is transmitted to others in the area via GPS. Responsible drone users could then keep their devices away from oncoming planes. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/2383123/mobile/geofencing-explained.html">geofencing</a> and <a href="http://www.noflydrones.co.uk/">no-fly zones</a> should be used to protect sensitive sites from drone encroachment.</p>
<p>Updates to UK regulations are in progress – and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is producing new operating guidelines. These should provide a framework to develop appropriate technology to ensure that hobbyists fly safely – and hopefully give drones the chance to shed their less than stellar reputation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99193/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Aitken does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Drones are pesky, hazardous and can spy on you while you’re getting dressed. But they can also do a huge amount of goodJonathan Aitken, Research Fellow of Autonomous Systems and Robotics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/838172017-09-11T22:50:19Z2017-09-11T22:50:19ZDrones help scientists check the health of Antarctic mosses, revealing climate change clues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185463/original/file-20170911-1380-1ke6wkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mosses are sensitive to even minor changes in their living conditions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sharon Robinson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Drones are helping scientists check the health of Antarctic mosses, revealing clues on the pace of climate change. </p>
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<p>Mosses are sensitive to even minor changes in their living conditions, and scientists traditionally tramped through difficult terrain to collect data on them. </p>
<p>Using the specially-designed drones is faster, kinder to the environment and delivers detailed images that satellite imagery cannot match. </p>
<p>Drones also allow to map much larger areas than previously possible, showing how the moss health responds to meltwater in real time. </p>
<p>These methods could be used for similar research in other harsh environments like desert or alpine regions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zbyněk Malenovský has received grants from the ARC and Australian Antarctic Science. He is affiliated with the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Group at the University of Tasmania, the Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions at the University of Wollongong and the Global Change Research Institute at the Czech Academy of Sciences.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arko Lucieer has received grants from the Australian Research Council and Australian Antarctic Science Grant Scheme. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Robinson receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Department of Environment, and the Herman Slade Foundation and in the past has received funding from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development. She is a Member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel and the Australian Research Council College of Experts. She is an Editor for Global Change Biology. Member of Society for Experimental Biology and Australian Society of Plant Scientists.</span></em></p>Mosses are sensitive to even minor changes in their living conditions, and scientists traditionally tramped through difficult terrain to collect data on them.Zbyněk Malenovský, Researcher in Remote Sensing of Vegetation, University of TasmaniaArko Lucieer, Associate Professor in Remote Sensing, University of TasmaniaSharon Robinson, Professor, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/711192017-01-12T11:50:07Z2017-01-12T11:50:07ZDrones delivering packages in cities won’t take off – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152302/original/image-20170110-29024-1ri1w1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-326291684/stock-photo-drone-delivers-the-goods-against-the-background-of-new-york.html?src=czklxhMby9ir5uQFl5KwNA-1-8">Who is Danny</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You may have gasped with disbelief the first time you saw a photograph of a drone home-delivering a box from Amazon or cakes from a bakery or carrying a bag of crisps. Until recently, this was the stuff of science fiction. Your initial reaction was probably: “Amazing … but will it ever take off?”</p>
<p>Drones – or unmanned aerial vehicles, as we once called them – have now become capable of lifting and delivering on the back of continued research and technological ingenuity. Amazon has recently been trialling drones <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-17/australian-startup-flirtey-takes-on-google-in-drone-race/7416004">in Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNySOrI2Ny8">the UK</a>, but don’t get too excited: this is likely to be an exception rather than a norm. The practical reality of using drones in cities remains far away and is getting ever more distant. </p>
<p>There are already too many potential problems to let drones fly with sufficiently loose restrictions in cities to make a delivery business viable. One major issue is drones interfering with aircraft, thanks to surging numbers of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36734096">near-misses</a>. Drones are also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37152665">increasingly</a> being used to fly drugs and other contraband into prisons.</p>
<p>In the US, there have been <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-drones-paparazzi-20140820-story.html">fears about</a> camera-equipped drones stalking celebrities for paparazzi. There have also been stories about invasive drone surveillance, both on behalf of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/the-rapid-rise-of-federal-surveillance-drones-over-america/473136/">the state</a> and <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/168164-daniel-saulmon-drone-camera/">private individuals</a>. </p>
<h2>Drone law</h2>
<p>The biggest backlog of legal cases in the US <a href="http://jrupprechtlaw.com/tag/part-48">is reportedly</a> drone claims over issues including safety, noise, damage, personal intrusion and privacy. The whole area is a growing business for lawyers, with <a href="http://dronelawjournal.com">drone law journals</a> springing up and fierce debates over whether, <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/is-flying-a-drone-illegal-a-comprehensive-guide-to-americas-drone-laws">for example</a>, drones fall within the definition of aircraft for legal purposes. </p>
<p>New US flight rules introduced last August did lead some optimists to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/faas-new-drone-laws-go-into-effect-monday-allowing-us-companies-to-innovate.html">predict</a> a new business opportunity that could create 100,000 new jobs, but the reality is that the whole sector is in a mess. The US Federal Aviation Authority <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36584515">has explicitly</a> said drone deliveries are off limits, at least pending further research into their consequences. </p>
<p>At the same time, technologies are emerging that are designed to down drones. Your initial reaction might be that these will never work either, but I’m not so sure. </p>
<p>A great recent <a href="http://openworksengineering.com">British engineering invention</a> is the SkyWall100. It looks like a bazooka gun and uses laser-guided targeting to fire a ball. This opens into a net that engulfs the drone and brings it to earth under a parachute. It went on sale late last year and is retailing at between £50,000 and £65,000 depending on the size of the order. So far, it has attracted a promising level of interest. </p>
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<p>The SkyWall100 is safer and less messy than shooting down drones with bullets, yet it opens up a cavern of legal ambiguities. In the UK, for example, it’s classed as a firearm so can only be owned by someone with the appropriate licence – restricting them mainly to the police or military. The US has looser firearm restrictions, of course, but firearms still generally can’t be discharged within city limits. However, the SkyWall100 is not classified as a firearm in the US, so it can be discharged anywhere. </p>
<p>Among <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X27-2WDIZR00">other techniques</a> for taking out drones, one is the Battelle DroneDefender, which is a large gun that fires a “cone of energy” at a device that disrupts GPS systems. So far, these are only in use by the military and not permitted for public sale. </p>
<h2>Going down …</h2>
<p>If the likes of the SkyWall100 are going to let people prevent drones from moving over their private property to avoid their nuisance, noise and frankly hazard of failure, a new sport of “drone downing” could easily become extremely popular in the coming years – at least in America. Drone-downing raises the alluring prospect of capturing free booty if it strays illegally into your property. So what constitutes illegal?</p>
<p>While I stress I am no lawyer, the US rules for protecting your drone from such potshots <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36584515">would appear</a> to be <a href="http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/articles/the-laws-you-need-to-know-before-flying-your-drone-w210915">as follows</a>. It must weigh less than 25kg and can’t be out of your line of sight or higher than 400ft in the air. It can only be flown in daylight, and at dawn and dusk it needs special lights to make it visible. It also can’t be flown over groups of people or near stadiums or airports. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152305/original/image-20170110-29024-1n24is3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mission: impossible?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-512167573/stock-vector-drones-delivery-presents-vector-illustration-isolated.html?src=czklxhMby9ir5uQFl5KwNA-1-91">Alex Kee</a></span>
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<p>In the UK, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/18/drone-laws-in-the-uk--what-are-the-rules/">the rules</a> are similar, but with slightly tougher weight restrictions and additional requirements – it must be at least 150 metres from a building and 50 metres from a person or vehicle. If I was planning to build a shopping or pizza delivery business based on using drones that delivered to homes in cities, restrictions like these would make me more than a little jittery. </p>
<p>Put all this together and it’s virtually impossible to see drone deliveries becoming viable in cities. It might be a different story in remote locations where special deliveries may be deemed acceptable and welcomed, but otherwise I’m afraid this is one vision of the future that has no chance of coming to pass. It is an example of a clearly brilliant concept that is colliding badly with human nature and reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71119/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Andrew Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tremendous technology is on a collision course with reality.Richard Andrew Williams, Principal and Vice Chancellor, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/653852016-09-30T15:19:45Z2016-09-30T15:19:45ZHere’s how drones will change cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139310/original/image-20160926-31853-d0re4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jag_cz/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amazon has been busy <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3777872/Pictured-Amazon-s-new-delivery-DRONE-seen-action-time-tested-secret-middle-countryside.html">testing out</a> its new <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011">Prime Air</a> initiative at a secret location in the English countryside. The service’s promise of a 30-minute delivery by <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-design-decisions-behind-amazons-strange-looking-delivery-drone-51624">specially designed drones</a> may look like click-bait PR, but it’s an early sign of the significant changes coming to cities around the world. </p>
<p>For the moment, much of the hype around drones is full of caveats: safety is always the first priority, and nobody quite knows the full extent of what’s possible. There’s still uncertainty about how new services will weave their way through airspace – let alone the inevitable tangle of regulations. </p>
<p>Prime Air is likely to take four to five years to become a mainstream service, as public acceptance and demand evolves alongside the business model. But in the meantime, there is going to be a tidal wave of change in both the technology itself, and the public’s attitude towards it.</p>
<p>Civilian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are like the first motorised cars: they have started out as a toy – and sometimes a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-37042796">hazardous one at that</a>. But they will, with time, become normal and form the basis of a new way of living and working. </p>
<p>In response, the urban environment will need to adapt. Perhaps the scale of urban transformation not be as extreme as it was with cars – after all, drones don’t require large-scale infrastructure such as roads and bridges. But the changes will still be many and far-reaching. </p>
<h2>Clear skies</h2>
<p>For one thing, the need for airspace will lead to a push towards decluttering of features such as satellite dishes, and the removal of any unnecessary “sky furniture”, such as telecommunications, electricity wires and billboards. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139430/original/image-20160927-14625-1rv3e5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sky clutter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Engineers may also need to find ways to map out street lighting and transmitter masts, as well as keeping track of other drones, in order to simplify the vast quantity and variety of visual data the UAV’s sensors and pilots have to deal with. Networks of UAV landing pads, recharging hubs and <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/539726/amazon-lays-out-its-vision-for-a-sky-thronging-with-delivery-drones/">air traffic control stations</a> will be created, sited on top of tall buildings. </p>
<p>“UAV-ready” features will become a standard part of homes: not just landing pads with guidance lights (which are <a href="http://www.dronesandquads.com/posts/helicopter-and-drone-landing-pad/">already on the market</a>), but also recharging docks and secure trapdoors, to allow for the storage of deliveries. Space for straightforward UAV access will provide a new selling point for property, though this could be an issue in areas where space is limited: for example, residents living in flats may need to rely on communal arrangements. </p>
<h2>Need for speed</h2>
<p>There are countless other applications for drones beyond delivery services. They can also be used to monitor structures such as wind turbines, or to keep a check on the environment – from riverbank and coastal erosion, to rising water levels and flood threats. Drones could even replace some roles and systems in our cities, such as traffic wardens, speed cameras and some forms of policing.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://sa.catapult.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/White-paper-UAVs-and-agriculture_Final2.pdf">agriculture</a>, drones are already being used to keep an eye on crops and spot any problems. They are also playing a role in <a href="https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/case-studies/research-case-studies/uavs-for-accident-investigation">investigating accidents</a> – and, of course, being deployed for security and <a href="https://theconversation.com/prepare-for-more-drones-and-less-all-out-war-18380">military uses</a>. </p>
<p>Drone racing is likely to be another new addition to city spaces. Just as the motor engine led very quickly to <a href="http://www.grandprixhistory.org/bennett1.htm">motor sports</a>, the availability of new technology and new skills will inevitably lead to competition. </p>
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<p>Drone racing is already attracting international interest – there are a <a href="http://thedroneracingleague.com">number of competing leagues</a> and televised events and the future landscape could include UAV racing courses. Participants and audiences could be local, or – with the help of an internet connection – based anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>All of these rely on highly skilled UAV pilots – perhaps even people capable of operating multiple UAVs at a time. Linked to pilot training will be the need for formal, accredited education and skills in UAV services management. Being able to handle a UAV will become a useful life skill for members of the general public.</p>
<h2>Business opportunities</h2>
<p>There will be plenty of opportunities for businesses and services relating to UAV provision, maintenance, development and management, as well as communications and safety technologies to meet the need for ultra-reliable and more sophisticated tech such as “first-person” vision goggles to control UAVs at a distance – not to mention systems for testing and licensing pilots. </p>
<p>The local, national and international UAV infrastructure also has real scope to transform the operations for <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-humanitarian-summit-nepal-drones-idUKKCN0Y7003">overseas aid and development</a>. Equipped with cameras, UAVs could enable a greater understanding of changing situations and needs, and pinpoint the delivery of support and supplies. </p>
<p>We need high-profile trailblazers such as Prime Air for the technology to realise the drone market’s potential. The hard work, though, is going to be behind the scenes, creating the safety mechanisms for each stage of UAV use, and putting in place laws that get the balance right between protecting civilians from harm and allowing this technology the chance to grow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonios Tsourdos receives funding from RCUK, Innovate UK, EDA, MoD, H2020 and industry. He is a member of the Autonomous Systems National Technical Committee and the AIAA Unmanned System Programme Committee.</span></em></p>Over the next few years, drones are going to take to the skies en masse – and cities will need to accommodate them.Antonios Tsourdos, Professor of Autonomous Systems and Control Engineering, Cranfield UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/640182016-08-22T11:24:23Z2016-08-22T11:24:23ZCity centre seagulls could help plan drone flight paths<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134778/original/image-20160819-30400-1g17nqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seagulls do more than just swoop for ice cream.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-215633416/stock-photo-european-herring-gull-in-st-ives-cornwall-amongst-the-most-accomplished-avian-thieves-in-the-world-staple-diet-fish-and-chips-sandwiches-ice-cream.html?src=0saNt9GT_MnWNlepwleSzQ-1-24">Shutterstock/Paul J Martin</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seagulls are the bane of many city dwellers’ lives. From <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/08/seagulls-stole-blind-grandmothers-subway-sandwich-5995505/">snatching sandwiches</a>, to tearing up rubbish bags, for many they are far worse than traditionally unpopular pigeons or rats. The issue of gulls in cities is an interesting one, as <a href="http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-2887">populations of herring gulls</a> and <a href="https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/shared_documents/publications/research-reports/2014/rr654.pdf">lesser black-backed gulls</a> are declining in many rural areas, while increasing in many urban locations.</p>
<p>The reasons are likely multiple, among them easy access to nesting sites and food, and a learned tolerance of humans. However, in our <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0394">recently published study</a>, we raised the possibility that ease of flight might also make city centres an attractive option for these birds. </p>
<h2>Turbulant skies</h2>
<p>As terrestrial animals, it can be difficult for humans to imagine what it is like to travel in a medium that is also moving. If you swim in a pool alone, it feels easier to slip through the water because it hasn’t been churned up by another swimmer. This is just small-scale turbulence: add on top of this how it feels to swim in the sea, where the tide can pull you back as you try to return to the shore, and you will begin to understand what it is like to be a bird.</p>
<p>Now imagine that you have to swim through the sea to get to work every day. Sometimes the currents would be with you, sometimes they would be against you, this and the choppiness of the water will have a huge effect on how hard you have to work. If you had to do this every day, you would get pretty good at predicting the sea state and current direction. Flying animals face this all the time: the air is hardly ever still and this has a profound effect on flight behaviour.</p>
<p>In our study, we looked at how gulls use the rising air generated by buildings <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/371/1704">to fly without flapping</a>. Using the seaside city of Swansea as our research location, we found that gulls actually alter their flight paths in certain wind conditions, to take advantage of updraughts occurring around a line of hotels bordering the bay.</p>
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<p>Such energy-saving strategies are already <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HN9zXugoKi4C&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=bird+flight+updraft+city+migration&source=bl&ots=h0M35iVTx_&sig=Mm8dXToERMUFFIt6fq1diba-_G0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2gIPw0sjOAhXD0xoKHchBAe8Q6AEILjAD#v=twopage&q&f=false">well-recognised in birds</a> that are undertaking their vast annual migrations, but are less well-studied for birds moving around on a daily basis.</p>
<h2>Tracking gulls</h2>
<p>To learn more about the gulls’ flight paths, we used laser range-finding binoculars to capture the trajectory of the birds soaring on rising air generated by the hotel buildings. We combined this with a simplified computer model of how the air moved around the seafront hotels and the flight characteristics of the gulls themselves. What we found suggested that gulls may be adopting a strategy that provides increased flight control in the face of cross-wind gusts. </p>
<p>This shows that man-made structures – even those as small as hotels a couple of stories high – can change bird flight paths by altering airflows. In fact urban areas are likely to be associated with cheap flight costs in a general sense, as buildings provide ample updraughts under a range of weather conditions. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, gaining cheap rides from urban airflows is not without its risks. Environments with complex substrates, such as those in urban spaces, produce very complex airflows. In order to account for this, we mapped the precise positions of gulls in relation to the airflows over the hotels to identify whether this changed as the wind strength increased.</p>
<h2>Flying ahead</h2>
<p>This interesting flight strategy doesn’t only help us understand the lives of gulls, it could also prove useful when planning flight paths for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, in urban landscapes.</p>
<p>Our results show that airflows around even small-scale features can have profound implications for energy use and flight control in birds and drones. We were very much aware that here, and in much research to come, biological and engineering researchers stand to gain a lot from each other.</p>
<p>Small-scale UAVs with fixed wings – like conventional aircraft – are much more strongly affected by gusts and turbulence than larger aircraft, as the wind speed is comparable to their airspeed. Flying at low altitudes in the highly complex flow field of urban environments, and in close proximity to terrain and buildings, is a significant challenge that most autonomous flight control systems have not been developed to cope with. As such, examining how birds of a similar size and weight overcome these challenges could help to inform UAV flight path planning and the development of flight control systems for flight in the same environments.</p>
<p>So next time you are feeling ill-disposed towards gulls soaring in city spaces, possibly shielding your ice-creams as you stroll along the seafront, stop a moment to appreciate the complex decisions that these feathered pilots are making, second by second, as they respond to their continually changing aerial environment, in ways that engineers can, for now, only dream of.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Shepard has received funding from the Royal Society (a Royal Society Research Grant), the Leverhulme Trust (a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship), National geographic, and the Wingate Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cara Williamson and Shane Windsor do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Seagulls in flight are a nuisance no more.Emily Shepard, Senior Lecturer in Biosciences, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/629182016-07-27T13:34:58Z2016-07-27T13:34:58ZAmazon delivery drones are just the first step to a highway in the sky<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132188/original/image-20160727-21584-135cqu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amazon <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/26/technology/amazon-delivery-drones-uk/">recently announced</a> plans to test a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-design-decisions-behind-amazons-strange-looking-delivery-drone-51624">drone delivery system</a> in parts of the UK that are hard to access with conventional delivery methods. While <a href="http://www.cityam.com/246245/amazon-steps-up-tests-uk-drone-deliveries-really-catch">much attention</a> has focused on the service it would provide to Amazon customers, the really interesting story is what this agreement with the British government tries to achieve on a much broader level.</p>
<p>If successful, it will essentially create a high-altitude floating highway between 200 and 400 feet above the ground, within which a whole range of activities could be performed. As a result, everything from drone ambulances to drone police surveillance are on the cards for our future. So how ready are we for this transformation of air space? </p>
<p><a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=251199&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2188094">Amazon’s announcement</a> reveals the plan focuses on three key aspects of drone technology that the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has said it wants to see <a href="http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP%20722%20Sixth%20Edition%20March%202015.pdf">innovation in</a>.</p>
<p>The first of these is collision avoidance technology, the kind you already find in cars, where sensors detect how close the car is to another object or vehicle and prevents it from crashing. This is important because present rules ban users from flying their drones outside of their <a href="http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP%20722%20Sixth%20Edition%20March%202015.pdf">line of sight</a>, so they can always take control if there’s a problem. Collision avoidance does away with that need because the drone would be able to stop itself from causing accidents.</p>
<p>The second technology is fully autonomous systems, essentially intelligent flying machines that would require very little – if any – human control. Such devices could be capable of deciding where and when they fly, and could be mixed use systems. The same drones could conceivably be used to provide emergency support to patients in need of blood quickly, or for delivering a stove to campers who forgot to pack everything.</p>
<p>The third objective is to test out a system that would enable a single operator to fly multiple drones at the same time. This points to the possibility of fleets of flying objects that could undertake any number of operations, from police surveillance and crowd management, to disaster monitoring and rescue operations. For example, if a mountaineer is lost in the hills, a single operator could manage a number of drones to fly across a region and identify the site where the person is located. Together, the drones will share information to speed up the process and ensure support is provided as quickly as possible. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132182/original/image-20160727-21595-1hlu0is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ready for launch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cracking these technological challenges is a core priority for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-delivery-drones-are-coming-so-rules-and-safety-standards-will-be-needed-fast-38753">drone regulators</a>, not least because it will open up drones for use in all kinds of other capacities. For instance, in the last two years, researchers have been developing a drone ambulance. This is essentially a <a href="http://www.medgadget.com/2014/11/ambulance-drone-delivers-defibrillator-by-air-video.html">flying defibrillator</a> that could be sent out to someone having a medical emergency and used by a bystander to provide <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drones-can-improve-healthcare-delivery-in-developing-countries-49917">essential care</a> when no other alternative is available. We can expect to eventually see drones flying urgent medical products around the UK, helping to save lives and beat the current limitations of ground deliveries.</p>
<p>Amazon already has a remarkable delivery network and moving into drones at this early stage will ensure it dominates future airborne delivery systems, as well as adding to its brand image of being a technology innovator. So, it’s reasonable to assume that the British government is working with Amazon to enhance its capacity to pursue a range of other drone applications, from connecting drones to <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-big-challenges-for-smart-cities-and-how-to-solve-them-59191">smart city technology</a> to enabling <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-drones-can-we-trust-the-eyes-in-the-skies-53981">all kinds of surveillance</a>. After that, a wide variety of commercial interests will follow with any number of claims being made to occupy our low-level air space.</p>
<h2>Privacy concerns</h2>
<p>These prospects won’t sit well with everyone and there are already indications of how the public will resist such trends. In the US, for example, a project called <a href="https://www.noflyzone.org">“No Fly Zone”</a> allows people to register the air space around their homes as private and is calling on drone manufacturers to pre-program their machines to avoid it.</p>
<p>The proliferation of drones around us in the world also raises the questions of how they will all be organised. Will drones be flying around randomly, avoiding each other with their collision avoidance technology? There is a good chance that a drone highway will actually mirror our present-day road network. </p>
<p>The advantage of this would be that drones could count on an established configuration of routes that are mapped out around the world. This may not be the most direct flight path but it takes into account that drone highways, like our present road network, will become quickly congested. This kind of issue shows why we need some sensible rules to avoid catastrophic failure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Miah received funding from NESTA in 2014, to explore the creative potential of drones via a Digital R&D for the Arts programme, working with Marshmallow Laser Feast, and Abandon Normal Devices. </span></em></p>Here’s the technology Amazon needs to get right for drone deliveries – and what it will mean for everyone else.Andy Miah, Chair in Science Communication & Future Media, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572012016-04-07T04:53:24Z2016-04-07T04:53:24ZNew relaxed drone regulations will help the industry take off<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117573/original/image-20160406-28945-uvilu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CASA makes it easier for low risk flying of drones.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rthorek-photography/6798508919/">Flickr/Richard Thorek</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian drone industry is set for a shake up following the announcement of a long-awaited relaxation of regulations on their operation. </p>
<p>Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (<a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/">CASA</a>) says the <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/publications-and-resources/media-release/red-tape-cut-remotely-piloted-aircraft">amended regulations</a> will come into effect in late September 2016, and with them comes the introduction of new categories of what are known as remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).</p>
<p>The regulations define new low-risk commercial RPAS operations, which will allow operators of <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2016L00400/Explanatory%20Statement/Text">sub-2kg craft</a> to fly without the need for an approval or licence. </p>
<p>A drone must be operated in daytime and within visual line of sight of the remote pilot to be classified as low risk. It must not be flown over populous areas and must be kept at least 30 metres from other people.</p>
<p>The drone cannot be flown greater than 130m above ground and it must not be flown within 5.5km of a controlled airport.</p>
<p>Commercial operators in this new category will have to register their operations with CASA on a yet-to-be live website.</p>
<p>Relaxed regulations will also apply to private owners of RPAS of up to 150kg. This is provided they only fly their drone over their private property and they do not operate their aircraft for direct commercial reward. </p>
<h2>Why the change?</h2>
<p>In 2002, CASA was the first in the world to <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/casr-part-101-unmanned-aircraft-and-rocket-operations">regulate the operation of drones</a>. </p>
<p>The regulations, contained in <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/casr-part-101-unmanned-aircraft-and-rocket-operations">Part 101</a> of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulation (CASR 1998), were long considered ground breaking. Much of the success of the Australian unmanned aircraft industry is owed to the flexible approach outlined in the regulations. </p>
<p>In 2007, there were fewer than 25 certified drone operators in Australia. By March 30, 2016, <a href="http://www.aviationbusiness.com.au/news/casa-issues-500th-uav-operator-certificate">this number had grown to 500</a>, with most operating small multi-rotor RPAS.</p>
<p>But with this rapid growth came the increasing need for regulatory reform. CASA recognised that the regulations needed to keep pace with increasingly capable technology, and the changing operational needs of the sector.</p>
<p>It also realised that processing an ever increasing number of regulatory applications was not sustainable.</p>
<h2>Welcome news</h2>
<p>The new changes <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-01/new-drone-regulations-to-benefit-farmers/7293392">will significantly reshape</a> the drone industry. </p>
<p>Operators already licensed by CASA are expected to face increased competition from the new sub-2kg RPAS operators. These new operators will be able to provide equivalent <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/03/05/so-you-want-to-shoot-aerial-photography-using-drones/">aerial photography and inspection services</a> without the same regulatory overhead.</p>
<p>Similarly, there will be an <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/10/08/drone-nation-air-droid/">increase in the number of end-users</a> choosing to own and operate their own internal RPAS capability instead of contracting existing RPAS service providers. Examples include the use of small <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/drones-building-construction-industry/36306/">inspection drones on building sites</a> and the use of drones by <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-police-recruit-drones-in-forensic-first-20150528-ghbi70.html">tactical police units</a> to assist them in hostage situations.</p>
<p>But it is not all doom and gloom for the current licensed RPAS operators. The standard operating conditions applicable to the new low-risk categories are restrictive.</p>
<p>Larger and more reliable drones will still be needed to carry bulky and more expensive payloads such as laser scanners, and hyper-spectral and cinema-quality cameras. These drones will still need to be operated by licensed operators.</p>
<p>Approval is still required for first person view (<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-fpv-drone-racing-54047">FPV</a>) outdoor flying operations, where the remote pilot flies by means of a camera mounted on board the drone. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-in-the-skies-how-outback-joe-was-found-and-rescued-34234">autonomous drones</a>, which operate without any input from a pilot, also require CASA approval on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117308/original/image-20160404-27125-18ijsxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A large drone that will still require licensed operators for commercial use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stefan Hrabar/CSIRO/UAV Challenge</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research and educational institutions, such as universities, are also expected to benefit from the new categories, provided they operate their aircraft over their own property and in accordance with all other operational restrictions. </p>
<p>Previously, these institutions were subject to the same licensing requirements as commercial operators. </p>
<h2>Hobby users</h2>
<p>The amended regulations do not address concerns posed by the rapidly growing number of hobby drone users.</p>
<p>Regulations applicable to hobby or recreational users are contained in CASR 1998 Part 101.G, which is the subject of a separate CASA regulatory reform project.</p>
<p>There is growing concern over the risks hobby users pose to other aircraft and to members of the public. Some of these hobby users are not aware of the potential danger their drone may pose. </p>
<p>There have been numerous <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/01/drone-near-miss-should-be-a-wake-up-call-for-review-says-shadow-minister">near misses of small drones with passenger aircraft</a> in recent years. As the rate of these incidents increases, there is real concern that a drone will eventually be ingested into an aircraft engine causing catastrophic damage – or worse, an airline crash.</p>
<p>Others are well aware of the dangers their drones may pose to the public but they <a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/10-dumb-uses-of-drones-that-ruin-drones-for-everyone/">are deliberately mischievous anyway</a>.</p>
<p>Education remains the only effective tool, with CASA leading a campaign <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/lib100071/flying_with_control_model.pdf">to educate hobby users on the safe operation</a> of their aircraft and the regulations that apply to them. </p>
<p>Without doubt, the release of the amended regulations will mark a significant milestone in the history of the Australian drone industry. They will help to sustain the safe and viable growth of the sector.</p>
<p>But the devil may still lie in the detail, of course, with the accompanying manual of standards yet to be released by CASA. The manual will contain more detailed requirements including those for remote pilot licences, flights in controlled airspace, and flights beyond visual line of sight of the pilot.</p>
<p>CASA’s exact interpretation of “Aerial Work” and “Commercial Reward” also remain unclear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Reece Clothier's primary area of research is the safety and regulation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for which he has previously received research funding from CASA. Dr Clothier is the President of the Australian Association for Unmanned Systems and former Industry Co-chair of the CASA Standards Consultative Committee, UAS Sub-Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Roberts is the co-founder of the UAV Challenge, an international competition that sees teams develop robot aircraft to demonstrate their use for saving people lost or in need of medical assistance. The UAV Challenge has been co-sponsored in the past by CASA. Jonathan is an academic and researcher with QUT's Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA).</span></em></p>Long awaited changes to the regulations on some drone flights in Australia are set to give the industry a shake up.Reece Clothier, Senior Lecturer, RMIT UniversityJonathan Roberts, Professor in Robotics, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/569892016-03-31T19:10:09Z2016-03-31T19:10:09ZEye in the Sky and the moral dilemmas of modern warfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116738/original/image-20160330-9712-m4w3kx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tough decisions are made from distant control rooms.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bleecker Street Media</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Director Gavin Hood’s new film, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2057392/">Eye in the Sky</a>, places our intuitions about the ethics of war firmly in the cross hairs. And like any decent <a href="https://theconversation.com/eye-in-the-sky-movie-gives-a-real-insight-into-the-future-of-warfare-56684">thought experiment</a>, it asks us to accept a number of artificial constraints, which enable the plot to impale us on the ethical dilemma at its core. </p>
<p>The story is focused on a planned British-run multinational mission to capture a group of high-value <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/al-shabaab">Al-Shabaab</a> terrorists, who have gathered in a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya. </p>
<p>The first unlikely element of the story that we’re asked to accept is that there are areas of Nairobi which are under de facto Al-Shabaab control. We must also believe that the Kenyan Defence Force’s highly-trained special forces soldiers would refuse to enter such an area, and that the consequences of them attempting to do so would be “a massacre”. </p>
<p>These (artificially stipulated) elements force a change in the mission from an attempt to capture the terrorists to a kill mission, employing the <a href="http://www.lockheedmartin.com.au/uk/what-we-do/products/HELLFIREII.html">Hellfire</a> missiles of the US Air Force <a href="http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104470/mq-9-reaper.aspx">Reaper</a> remotely piloted vehicle, which is on station above the target.</p>
<p>If we are able to suspend disbelief about these plot elements, then we can appreciate the full effect of this carefully crafted thought experiment about the ethics of war. </p>
<p>The unsettling question at the heart of the film is whether or not killing a group of dangerous terrorists, who are on the cusp of launching a deadly suicide attack, justifies taking the life of an innocent little girl who has set up a stall selling bread outside the target house. </p>
<p>Director Hood toys with us as the film unfolds, offering and then withdrawing hope that the dilemma might be avoided. But ultimately it must be confronted.</p>
<h2>Double effect</h2>
<p>The principle of discrimination (or “distinction” in legal terminology) requires that only enemy combatants may be directly targeted in war. In the law and ethics of war there is, though, an acknowledgement that doing so may unavoidably result in the foreseeable, but unintended, deaths of noncombatants. </p>
<p>The accepted way to evaluate whether the predicted deaths – or “collateral damage”, as they are euphemistically called – are allowable is known as the “<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-effect/">doctrine of double effect</a>”. This requires us to apply the following four-step test:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The act that will result in the harm in question is either a good or morally neutral act.</p></li>
<li><p>The act is intended to achieve a good effect, not the bad effect. (The test here is a counterfactual: would the act go ahead if the bad effect were not going to occur?)</p></li>
<li><p>The good effect must not be caused by the bad effect.</p></li>
<li><p>The harm caused by the act must not be out of proportion to the good that will be achieved.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There’s little doubt that in the military scenario described in the movie (which, coincidentally, is very similar to a scenario I use to illustrate the doctrine of double effect in <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/key-concepts-military-ethics/">a recent book on military ethics</a>) the test is comfortably passed. </p>
<p>This is even if we don’t entirely buy the claim by the mission’s operational commander, Colonel Katherine Powell (brilliantly portrayed by Helen Mirren), that the suicide bombers’ vests could kill as many as 80 civilians. </p>
<p>When the White House legal advisor (Homeland actor Laila Robins) joins the fevered debate taking place in the UK Cabinet Office Briefing Room and essentially makes this point, most viewers are probably as uncomfortable with the conclusion as the sweating British politicians who are desperately trying to avoid taking responsibility for the decision to launch the missile.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=250&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116733/original/image-20160330-28451-43s90d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) contemplates the dilemma she faces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bleecker Street Media</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It would be a mistake to see this as a film that is narrowly about the ethics of employing armed drones as weapons of war. Hood could just as easily have put us in the same dilemma if the target had been under surveillance by a “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_inspection">Mark I Eyeball</a>” rather than a sophisticated camera circling 25,000 feet above the ground. And the quandary would be no different if the means of killing the terrorists were an old-school airstrike involving a skillful pilot and an unguided “dumb” bomb. </p>
<p>What the near-future technological capabilities on display do bring to light – unsettling as they undoubtedly are – is that such systems allow for a degree of precision and discrimination that would have been impossible in past conflicts. This is something we should welcome.</p>
<p>Thus while Eye in the Sky deftly raises a range of topical issues in military ethics, ranging from civil-military relations to <a href="http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/moral-wounds-war">moral injury</a>, at its heart it is a thought experiment designed to draw out our intuitions about the military application of the doctrine of double effect. </p>
<p>While the utilitarian calculation at the heart of the dilemma is straightforward, by causing us to fall for the lovable little girl who could end up as an “unintended casualty”, Hood forces us to give up our detached perspective – our moral eye in the sky, if you will – and confront the tragic reality that lies behind the computer-generated “collateral damage estimate”. </p>
<p>Going further, this is a test of our intuitions about the morality of war itself, for the fact is that collateral damage is an unavoidable reality of war and will remain so for the foreseeable future. That’s something neither we, nor our politicians, should ever forget.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deane-Peter Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Should we allow innocents to be harmed for the greater good? Eye in the Sky puts a modern spin on a classic philosophical moral dilemma.Deane-Peter Baker, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/539812016-02-28T19:00:31Z2016-02-28T19:00:31ZPolice drones: can we trust the eyes in the skies?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112865/original/image-20160225-15165-n5warp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=965%2C119%2C3877%2C3113&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some people are concerned by the presence of drones in the air above them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia, unmanned aerial vehicles – or <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/drones">drones</a> – are now being used by the police in <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/police-drones-take-off-secret-weapons-in-the-fight-against-crime-and-terror-attacks/news-story/026a4a5eb8e97c83cba2eaaba424b591">most states</a> as a tool to help fight crime or to assist in rescue missions. </p>
<p>For example, drones are being used to locate people on the ground and transmit GPS coordinates back to an operator during bushfires. They can also be used to create 3D maps of terrain in advance of an upcoming operation. And some drones can even detect chemicals or radiation. </p>
<p>Drones are increasingly being used in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_UAVs_in_law_enforcement">law enforcement</a> as well as in the military and by intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>Yet, despite their benefits, some members of the public have <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/surveillance-drones">resisted their adoption</a>. There has also been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/australian-private-drone-operators-are-immune-to-current-privacy-laws-2015-2">friction</a> between police services, civil aviation authorities and regulatory bodies that monitor privacy.</p>
<p>The main concern is that drones, flown by either the police or the public, could unintentionally capture footage of people going about their normal life. </p>
<p>Current privacy laws do not specifically address drones flown by the public or non-governmental organisations, leaving privacy controls largely undetermined and prosecution in the case of misuse somewhat arbitrary.</p>
<p>Another concern is whether police will receive proper training in operating drones before they are given appropriate licenses by the relevant civil aviation authorities – especially since training can be quite expensive. </p>
<p>Despite assurances from the police that drones are intended to be used only for specific rescue and crime fighting missions, Australians may not be convinced until formal legislation regarding privacy protection is enacted. This is particularly the case for monitoring drones flown by the public as a recreation. </p>
<p>In the US, the debate has been even more hotly contested as drones are being openly used for surveillance. The <a href="https://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>, which is a civil liberties advocacy group, had filed a <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/surveillance-drones">lawsuit</a> against the <a href="http://www.faa.gov/">Federal Aviation Authority</a> to find out which organisations had sought permission to fly drones.</p>
<h2>Uses and abuses</h2>
<p>As with any other form of technology, benefits come with the potential for misuse. Drones are readily available and pose a risk if flown without care or training, as was case of the drone that crashed during the Cricket World Cup final at the MCG and <a href="http://www.techrepublic.com/article/12-drone-disasters-that-show-why-the-faa-hates-drones/">others</a>. </p>
<p>The use of drones in a public environment exposes the user to prosecution. Civil aviation authorities in various countries, such as the UK, have setup a <a href="http://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-Industry/Aircraft/Unmanned-aircraft/Unmanned-Aircraft/">modus operandi</a> covering how they are meant to be operated by the common user. </p>
<p>Further, drones can be used by criminals or spies to attain valuable information or even as a way to smuggle small items. Since drones are typically quite discrete, many law enforcement agencies are using unconventional means to obstruct them, such as using <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/01/21/tokyo-police-are-using-drones-with-nets-to-catch-other-drones/">other larger drones</a> or <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/eagle-vs-drone-dutch-police-are-training-birds-prey-take-down-illegal-drones-1541493">eagles</a>.</p>
<p>Most current policing operations of drones have limited contact with the common user as they are mostly restricted to information gathering. However, with the advent of drone technology and an increase in autonomy, one can expect people to be much more involved. </p>
<h2>Eyes on the eyes in the skies</h2>
<p>With the growing use of drones in public environments, it is important to understand whether people accept them and how they react to drones. So we recently undertook a large-scale survey to determine public reaction to drones in different scenarios.</p>
<p>Our research shows that the <a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2814947">perception of drones</a> is a delicate and complicated issue, and it is influenced by several factors such as cultural background and even gender. </p>
<p>One interesting result was that women tended to think drones were more friendly. We can only speculate on why this was the case. But the answer may lie in gender differences observed in the perception of agent-based technology. </p>
<p>Men <a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijpr/2012/829835/">are thought</a> to prefer active and autonomous behaviour in agents and robots whereas women are more sceptical of such characteristics. Given that the drones generally operate discretely or in a subtle fashion, this may have led to women appreciating them more. </p>
<p>Yet the two points of utmost importance for our survey respondents were safety and privacy. Some even remarked that they would feel intimidated if a drone were used in a public environment. <a href="http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jisys.2013.22.issue-1/jisys-2013-001/jisys-2013-001.xml">Other research</a> has also triggered an ethical debate on the deployment of drones in war. </p>
<p>As with any other forms of technology, the assimilation and deployment of drones in society will require careful deliberation, proper testing and the establishment of relevant legislation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omar Mubin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Drones are increasingly being used by law enforcement agencies around the world, but this raises some issues around privacy and regulation.Omar Mubin, Lecturer in human-centred computing & human-computer interaction, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/542962016-02-10T13:15:09Z2016-02-10T13:15:09ZWays to stop a rogue drone<p>Reckless or criminal uses of drones are on the rise and police forces have reported <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/11/drone-incidents-reported-to-uk-police-on-the-rise">“a spike”</a> in the number of drone-related incidents in the UK, mirroring the growth in the technology’s popularity. This ranges from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/15/man-fined-in-first-uk-drone-conviction">hobbyist operators fined</a> for “flying dangerously” and a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/29/drones-near-misses-major-uk-airports-heathrow-stansted">rise in close-calls</a> with manned aircraft, to incidents of drones ferrying drugs into prison and even <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/uk-police-see-rise-in-number-of-drone-related-incidents-2015-10">unspecified “sexual offences”</a>. Authorities around the world <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/criminals-terrorists-find-uses-for-drones-raising-concerns-1422494268">have also warned</a> of the growing use of drones by <a href="http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers_and_reports/remote_control_project_report_hostile_drones">hostile actors</a>, including insurgents and terrorists.</p>
<p>The mounting threat of drone users not following <a href="http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?appid=11&mode=detail&id=415">aviation regulation</a> or committing crimes means police need effective ways to <a href="http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers_and_reports/remote_control_project_report_hostile_drones">stop and capture rogue devices</a>. One novel and widely reported idea being explored by the Dutch National Police is the training of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/01/dutch-netherlands-police-birds-unauthorized-drones">bald eagles to down drones</a>. While this “<a href="http://guardfromabove.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/NL-ENG-Guard-From-Above-Press-Release-FAQ.pdf">low tech solution for a high tech problem</a>” has some advantages, the dangers it poses to the animals themselves suggests we shouldn’t write off alternative counter-measures.</p>
<p>One of the key challenges for any anti-drone counter-measure is that the typical small size of most drones makes them difficult to detect and target. Drones are mobile, nimble and can use <a href="https://www.japcc.org/small-drones/">technologies such as thermal cameras</a> to operate day and night. At first glance, the bald eagle may seem well suited to the task of downing a drone because of its “natural” ability to spot a target and rapidly intercept it – as the video below shows. By seizing the drone out of the sky, the bird disables the device without raising fear of it falling onto people below and instinctively finds a safe area to land.</p>
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<p>But <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160206-eagle-drone-video-rogue-dutch-police-danger-hunting-robot0/">critics have argued</a> that the idea of using the bird’s natural hunting instincts fails to understand that bald eagles are not falconry predators who typically grab other birds out of the sky but rather eat mostly fish and carrion. Other more <a href="http://www.dronethusiast.com/does-using-eagles-to-take-down-drones-make-sense/">practical issues</a> include the cost of training and keeping eagles for the occasional use of intercepting rogue drones, and the time it could take for a bird to be deployed to the drone’s location. It’s also worth considering that evidence shows animals are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26279232">physically affected</a> by a drone’s presence, and the technology is banned in all US National Parks due to its <a href="http://www.popsci.com/can-birds-be-trained-attack-drones">impact on wildlife</a>, especially birds nesting birds of prey.</p>
<p>Guard From Above, the company that trains the eagles being used by the Dutch police, claim the birds are used to overpowering large and dangerous prey, and that the scales on their talons which protect them from victims’ bites will <a href="http://guardfromabove.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/NL-ENG-Guard-From-Above-Press-Release-FAQ.pdf">also shield them</a> against drones. But the carbon fibre blades of many drones are unlike a natural hazard, and have been known to cause serious injuries, including a child’s eye being <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-34936739">sliced in half</a>. </p>
<h2>Interception</h2>
<p>Eagle interception may appear simple but there are numerous other ways to intercept rogue drones already under development. Alternative physical interception methods also provide a way to deliver the target safely to the ground so the police can confiscate and examine it, without raising animal welfare issues. Police in Tokyo, for example, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35070818">recently announced plans</a> to deploy drones that can drop nets on rogue platforms, an approach that has been described as “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/12/drone-wars-uav-interceptor-net-firing-solution-rogue-flying">robotic falconry</a>”. But, as with eagles, these relatively new and untested systems require trained officers to deploy them.</p>
<p>Other potential approaches include using another drone to intercept the rogue unit and <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/aerial-robots/rapere-intercept-drone">cause it to crash</a>, or one that fires projectiles or “<a href="http://gizmodo.com/some-people-in-idaho-made-special-ammunition-to-shoot-d-1724875105">drone munition</a>” at the target. However, this has the obvious downside of causing it to drop out of the sky, creating a considerable safety hazard and making the drone more difficult to retrieve.</p>
<p>Another idea for intercepting a drone is to manipulate its software or interfere with its electromagnetic operating range. A key advantage of these approaches is that they don’t necessarily require a police officer to be present at the drone’s location. One such method is known as geo-fencing because it involves erecting an <a href="http://thefunambulist.net/2015/01/29/maps-the-age-of-the-drone-no-fly-zones-and-the-future-fear-of-blue-sky/">invisible “electronic fence”</a> that prevents drones from <a href="http://droneblog.com/2015/09/15/geo-fencing-to-become-mandatory-for-drones">flying into certain areas</a> or at certain times.</p>
<p>These areas are embedded into a drone’s software <a href="http://www.dji.com/newsroom/news/dji-has-released-the-new-firmware-v3-12-for-phantom-2-series-quadcopter">by the manufacturer</a> and can be added or altered with each software update. While this may be a particularly good way to protect sensitive sites such as airports, there are already concerns that some drone users may be able to <a href="http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/08/chuck-schumer-no-fly-zone-drones/119389/?oref=DefenseOneTCO">bypass the software</a>.</p>
<p>Other non-physical approaches to countering drones are more active and involve interfering with and manipulating the drone. Jamming involves sending out an electronic signal that blocks the GPS navigation system and attacks the <a href="http://dronecenter.bard.edu/what-you-need-to-know-about-domestic-drone-threats/">command link</a> to the operator, essentially confusing the drone. This can also affect other GPS users in the area, however, and unauthorised jammers are often illegal. </p>
<p>More active still are spoofing or hacking techniques that involve fooling the drone’s GPS system and <a href="http://dronecenter.bard.edu/what-you-need-to-know-about-domestic-drone-threats/">taking control</a> of the device. While this approach can be effective against rogue drones, legitimate users are also vulnerable to spoofing technology that is relatively <a href="http://www.wired.com/2014/02/spectrum-warfare">easy to construct</a>.</p>
<p>A perfect solution has yet to be found, but interest and investment in drone countermeasures <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-counter-unmanned-aerial-systems-uas-technologies-market-2015-300119713.html">is increasing</a>, giving authorities a growing number of options for tackling rogue drones. While reactions to the Dutch police’s idea <a href="https://twitter.com/LiamDrydenEtc/status/696657547609161728">may at times be amusing</a>, choosing a humane answer to the problem deserves a more thorough and thoughtful reflection, one that’s less hasty than an eagle downing a drone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna H. Jackman has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to complete her PhD. </span></em></p>Drones can be plucked out of the sky but it’s easier to disable them with a signal from the ground.Anna Jackman, Lecturer in Political Geography, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471342015-10-16T05:25:22Z2015-10-16T05:25:22ZComplaints, peeping toms and airplane near-misses show drone regulations are needed now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98114/original/image-20151012-17843-1s3enfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Phantom drone from Chinese firm DJI. Who's watching whose watching us?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DJI_Phantom_2_Vision%2B_V3_hovering_over_Weissfluhjoch_(cropped).jpg">Lino Schmid</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The thing about unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones as they’re commonly known, is that they’re very useful. They’ve been put to use for inspecting infrastructure, firefighting, monitoring in disaster areas or for environmental purposes, for border control, and of course their military use has been clearly demonstrated. </p>
<p>The problem is that, as a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/11/drone-incidents-reported-to-uk-police-on-the-rise">recent Freedom of Information request has shown</a>, drones have been put to all sorts of other unofficial uses, from transporting drugs into prisons or using cameras to voyeuristically spy on neighbours, in some cases leading to landowners responding with shotguns and rifles. Clearly, developing and enforcing regulations that ensure drone use respects others’ safety and privacy is proving difficult.</p>
<p>A report from researchers at the University of Birmingham in 2014 warned that the use of drones in the UK would rise over the next 20 years, raising “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29717771">significant safety, security, and privacy concerns</a>”. The number of drones in France rose by 350% in 2014, for example. Sales of drones are booming in the UK today, available for as little £30, and we need the regulations in place to deal with the sort of increase that has been seen in France. </p>
<p>Recreational drones, relatively easy to fly thanks to the stability of their four rotors, range from tiny toys to more advanced versions fitted with high definition video cameras used by the police and the media. Authorities have warned that the rising use of drones will lead to more prosecutions of those that do not stick to the rules. For example the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/22/us-britain-drones-idUSKCN0PW1DQ20150722">issued a warning recently</a> after seven incidents where drones had flown near planes at different British airports in less than a year. But the use of drones by civilians will undoubtedly be met with resistance.</p>
<p>The potential danger of irresponsible drone use around busy air traffic is real. Imagine yourself out jogging or riding a bicycle when a fly or bee strikes your face, or even your eye, even leading you to stumble or fall. Something similar happens when a bird hits an aircraft, a phenomenon known as a birdstrike, which can take out an engine. The effect would be similar were a drone to hit an aircraft, although drones vary from those the size of a tiny bird, to large military drones the size of a small aircraft. Of course, taking down an aircraft filled with passengers is a bigger deal than a jogger knocked off their feet by a bee.</p>
<p>While aircraft engines are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWTb0QRIt0c">tested against birdstrikes</a>, there is no data yet on a turbojet engine’s resistance to ingesting a 4-5kg metal and plastic drone. It could destroy the engine, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlDWCDnXZ2k">damage the cockpit windshield</a>, endangering the crew and flight, or simply ricochet from the fuselage.</p>
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<p>Legislation is needed to at least make drones identifiable – air traffic control authorities have called for drones to be registered so that misbehaving drone pilots can be banned. However, the rules for operating drones in the UK are clear. It is illegal to fly a drone over a built-up area or within 150ft from other people, vehicles or buildings, and they are banned from any fly zones around airports. </p>
<p>In Europe, no-drone zones, software using GPS location trackers to prevent drone flight within sensitive areas and compulsory drone registers are among proposals from aviation experts and the European Union to ensure they don’t cause dangerous run-ins with passenger aircraft. Many cities already have no-fly areas for drones, but that <a href="https://vimeo.com/78822120">has not stopped people</a> – even <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/14/politics/white-house-drone-arrest/">over the White House</a>. Sense-and-avoidance technology, which would detect and avoid potential mid-air collisions, might also help.</p>
<p>The concerns of the aviation industry focus on smaller drones, operated like model planes and flown for recreation, because their users are generally unfamiliar with the rules of the air. Education is needed in the first instance, before talk of enforcement and punishment. Enthusiasts operating drones have to understand that with use comes responsibility. The Federal Aviation Authority in the US is among those in the industry that have produced <a href="http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/">educational materials</a> and spread them through social media in an attempt to prevent accidents. </p>
<p>There’s no doubt that drones have been developed as military weapons; there seems hardly a day where someone, somewhere in the world is not killed by a drone strike. But many modern inventions in the civilian world came from the military or spaceflight industries – not least the internet, for example – and much of our transport and communications infrastructure would be far from the level of technology we currently enjoy without the funding and demands of military research.</p>
<p>However, the civilian use of such technology has to be carefully guarded, with allowable uses for drones yet to be established, and pilot and airspace regulations yet to be enacted. The anonymity and ease with which drones can be used as a tool of execution could lead to greater numbers of deaths by miscommunication – we need clear answers to these problems from regulators, and we need them soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivan Sikora is affiliated with Royal Aeronautical Society (A Member) as well as International Society of Air Safety Investigators. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tilmann Gabriel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Once everyone gets a taste for flying their own drone the skies will be chaos – we need to draw up rules, and enforce them, now.Ivan Sikora, Senior Lecturer, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/449412015-07-22T04:07:07Z2015-07-22T04:07:07ZHow drones can deliver tangible benefits to ordinary people in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89206/original/image-20150721-24275-zl8fa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unmanned aircraft, better known as drones, could have positive spin-offs for the African continent. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Edward Echwalu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>They are called unmanned aerial vehicles but are better known as <a href="http://dronewars.net/aboutdrone/">drones</a>. These are small aerial vehicles with fixed wings or small rotors, are usually powered with batteries, and equipped with a high resolution camera.</p>
<p>Drones range in cost from <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/13/how-this-99-3-d-printed-drone-could-change-the-toy-industry.html">$99</a> to tens of thousands of dollars. But they are truly a disruptive technology in that they can do what piloted airplanes can but in cheaper, better, and – in many cases – more efficient ways.</p>
<p>In less than five years we will see unmanned aerial vehicles being flown on a myriad of missions doing good. They can be a game-changer on the African continent.</p>
<h2>Practical applications</h2>
<p>As part of on-going experimentation at the University of <a href="http://uas-test.umd.edu/">Maryland</a>, we have been flying small unmanned aerial vehicles in southern Africa for more than two years. We have found that they can be used in a number of practical ways in the medical field, agriculture, tourism and to protect the environment. </p>
<p>Drones have already shown their effectiveness in combatting <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2015/01/28/drones_for_wildlife_conservation_rangers_uavs_and_math_protect_elephants.html">rhino</a> and elephant poaching. Equipped with thermal imaging cameras and absolutely silent, drones can see animals and poachers in the bush at night.</p>
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<span class="caption">Is this Sony drone the next must-have item that could make a difference for the good of humankind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch</span></span>
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<p>But there are a range of uses drones can be put to. They can be used for precision <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/05/18/drone-agriculture/">agriculture</a> to help farmers decide when and where to apply fertiliser or irrigate crops. Drones are also great for monitoring the depths of water holes.</p>
<p>We have found that unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to monitor fence lines so that instead of having individuals driving for hours every day to inspect the integrity of a fence, a low-flying unmanned aerial vehicle can videotape and analyse the structure of a fence in under an hour. If there are breaks in the fence, the drone’s computer can geo-tag the exact location. </p>
<p>In one park location we used an unmanned aerial vehicle instead of having two rangers drive the entire length of the fence. This resulted in savings of 51 litres of fuel a day. When calculated over a year the savings in fuel paid for the drone.</p>
<p>An unmanned aerial vehicle can also be dispatched when smoke is sighted in the sky. It can provide live video of a possible fire in minutes when it could take rangers several hours to drive to the location. This use has been exceptionally powerful during the day and at night.</p>
<p>There are also many ways that drones can be used to provide benefits to eco-tourists visiting lodges. Rather than driving around for hours looking for animals, the unmanned aerial vehicles can be dispatched to fly in front of a safari vehicle to scan the area for sightings. Happy tourists are likely to recommend a lodge to future visitors.</p>
<p>Finally, we are working on a project to use longer range unmanned aerial vehicles for flights of up to 30 kilometres to deliver medicines to remote villages. High-value but lightweight medicines are the perfect items for delivery by drones. This could be extraordinarily important to areas that may be cutoff during the rainy season. </p>
<h2>Barriers to approval</h2>
<p>Like many places around the world, the development of unmanned aerial vehicles technology has unfortunately outpaced the regulatory capability of national governments. As a result it is very difficult to obtain official permission to fly a drone – for any reason – in any African country. For example, the <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/african-nations-are-banning-the-drones-that-could-stop-poachers">Kenyan government</a> has refused to grant permission to fly unmanned aerial vehicles in the highly threatened Tsavo West National Park. </p>
<p>Where we have tried to fly unmanned aerial vehicles, we have had to get permission from the host nation’s civil aviation authority, the national and local police, the military – usually the air force – and the intelligence community. The ministry of environment or tourism also has to be approached, but is usually the easiest place to obtain clearance to fly.</p>
<p>These efforts require many visits to Africa, countless forms that must be filled in, dozens of meetings with government agencies, and – in most cases – a denial based on an ill-informed understanding of unmanned aerial vehicle technology. Months and years have been wasted while the needs of many remain unmet.</p>
<p>Drones are a tool, nothing more. When used appropriately, they are a valuable tool with tangible benefits. Thirty years ago people feared computers but now the cellphone has become ubiquitous. Drones will soon become just as common for the good of the continent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Snitch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Drones have a positive role to play on the African continent, from delivering medicines to fighting poaching and even giving visitors to game parks a head-up on where to spot the game.Thomas Snitch, Visiting Professor in Advanced Computer Studies, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/406012015-05-27T10:18:52Z2015-05-27T10:18:52ZTechnologies will tackle irrigation inefficiencies in agriculture’s drier future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82721/original/image-20150522-32551-104g79z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Water makes all the difference for agricultural crops.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgeologicalsurvey/17858228815">US Geological Survey</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of The Conversation’s series on drought. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/living-with-drought">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>Water is a finite but crucial resource. In most river basins around the world, water is diverted for industrial, municipal and domestic consumption. It’s also a critical component of wetlands and other natural ecosystems that are of tremendous value to society. Worldwide, the bulk of water use is tied to <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4314529">agriculture</a> – it accounts for approximately 66% of water diverted from natural sources for human use and 85% of water consumption. In the arid western United States, it’s not uncommon for irrigation to represent 75%-90% of all diversions. </p>
<p>Historically, much of the development that’s made these diversions possible in the US was subsidized by the federal government. This, together with water rights mechanisms that tend to preserve agriculture’s favored access to the water supply, has made water relatively inexpensive for agriculture. Few farmers have had much incentive to achieve greater efficiencies in their use of water for irrigation. As a result, the amount of water <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/t7202e/t7202e08.htm">diverted for irrigation</a> is about two to three times as much as is needed for crop production. On average, more than half of the water diverted for irrigation percolates into the groundwater or returns to surface streams without watering crops.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82848/original/image-20150525-32555-1ylbbuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water likely won’t flow as freely forever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_garland/3494721184">Hadley Paul Garland</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Globally, about <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/MEETING/004/Y6441e/Y6441e00.HTM">40% of the world’s total food supply</a> comes from irrigated land; in the US, the irrigated fraction of our agricultural land has <a href="http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/1997/History/history1997.pdf">reached 18%</a>, but this relatively small area produced half the total crop value. As the Earth’s population grows, demand for food will also grow. Only a tiny minority of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ird.170">required increase</a> in food production can come from expanding development of arable land, or by increasing the number and types of crops grown per year. The remaining must be met via <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4252e/y4252e00.htm">yield increases and better water-use efficiency</a>. </p>
<p>And as population increases, the demand for water for non-agricultural purposes will also grow. World water demand is <a href="http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2012/05/21/water-outlook-to-2050-the-oecd-calls-for-early-and-strategic-action/">projected to increase</a> by 55% between 2000 and 2050, and most of this increase will come from manufacturing, electricity production, and urban and domestic use. So in a drier world, getting the amount of water used by irrigation under control is a necessity. New technologies might go a long way toward helping us reach that goal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82841/original/image-20150525-32583-1a9bzgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Irrigation water that doesn’t make it to the crop’s roots is wasted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/agrilifetoday/5012314598">Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Kay Ledbetter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Using water or losing water?</h2>
<p>Irrigation can “lose” water in several ways. Water can seep out of reservoirs or transmission canals before it ever gets to the field. After water is applied to the crop in the field, some of it can percolate into the groundwater system, where it’s no longer available to the roots of the crop, or it might run off the field altogether. Water losses that happen in the field are called “on-farm” losses. Total losses, including seepage from reservoirs, canals and so on, are called “system” loses.</p>
<p>Over the past 50 years, several technologies have been developed to decrease on-farm <a href="http://www.cprl.ars.usda.gov/pdfs/Howell-Irrig%20Efficiency-Ency%20Water%20Sci.pdf">irrigation losses</a>. Precision land-leveling uses laser-guided equipment to level the field so that water will flow uniformly into the soil, not run down any little hills or collect in little gullies. It makes it easier to limit the amount of water that seeps beneath where the roots of the crop can reach.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82846/original/image-20150525-32555-2qgwnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Micro-subsurface drip irrigation applies water beneath the surface, increasing efficiency.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/17017674883">US Department of Agriculture</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compared to older, conventional furrow and flood application technologies, center pivot and other sprinkler methodologies and drip irrigation systems improve the uniformity of water application, reducing the amount of water lost to deeper percolation or runoff from the field. They’re expensive, though, and are done largely to reduce the costs of other inputs to production, such as labor. And they don’t necessarily result in significant improvements in overall efficiency, since they don’t address the losses that happen during storage, transmission and distribution of irrigation water.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82851/original/image-20150525-32562-3l5h0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More data means more efficient water use. Different spectral band images, like this false-color infrared view of a field, can be combined to provide high-resolution information about surface temperature, water use, plant nutritional status, soil moisture and so forth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mac McKee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pinpointing water needs and availability</h2>
<p>Monitoring and information technologies are emerging that show promise for reducing water losses at both the system and farm levels.</p>
<p>For example, it’s now possible to use a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to provide precise, integrated control over an entire irrigation system, in real time. A SCADA system automatically measures the amount of water available in reservoirs, quantities of water flowing in canals, and amounts of water being diverted onto fields. SCADA systems also can be used to easily and remotely control releases from reservoirs, diversions into canals and so forth. The users of a SCADA system – typically reservoir and canal operators, but also individual farmers – can easily see where all the water is and how it’s being used, and they can make better decisions for what to do next with respect to releases and diversions. There are several successful <a href="http://www.sevierriver.org">examples of such systems</a>, especially those based in internet communications and display of information.</p>
<p>Relatively few farmers or irrigation system operators currently use remote sensing as a source of information to reduce losses and improve irrigation efficiency. But this is likely to change as the cost of newly emerging technologies declines and as the information they produce becomes more readily available.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82843/original/image-20150525-32558-17f4kji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer can access water stress information for an individual field, even via smartphone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alfonso Torres-Rua</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, it is possible now to use satellite imagery to estimate quantities of water used in individual irrigated fields almost anywhere in the world. Such a system, developed here at the <a href="http://uwrl.usu.edu">Utah Water Research Laboratory</a> at Utah State University, is now available in the Lower Sevier Basin of Utah. It is a website that allows irrigators to see a season-long summary of water use and the soil moisture <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/aggiemail.usu.edu/lower-sevier-river/crop-health">status of their crop</a>. It allows individual farmers to monitor water consumption within a field and do a better job of planning future irrigation timing and quantities. The system also allows canal and reservoir operators to monitor total water use in the areas served and better anticipate future irrigation demands for the entire system.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82844/original/image-20150525-32578-1gn69s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AggieAir UAS aircraft and launcher. Drones can be used for remote sensing of crop water use, soil moisture, and crop chlorophyll and nitrogen status.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mac McKee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An exciting technology that’s in its infancy is the use of small unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) – or, more commonly, “drones” – to monitor agricultural systems, acquire scientific imagery and provide information for the operation of irrigation systems. Drones can also support more efficient fertilizer applications, weed and pest management, and harvesting. An example is the <a href="http://aggieair.usu.edu">AggieAir</a> UAS we’ve developed; we’re researching <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs70302627">new methods to measure</a> agricultural water use at <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2015.03.017">very high spatial resolution</a>: 15 centimeters (6 inches), as opposed to the coarse, 30-meter resolution of Landsat satellite-based monitoring.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82845/original/image-20150525-32586-1lix92w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AggieAir imagery can be used to derive estimates of daily water use of a crop – here grape plants in a vineyard – at very high spatial resolution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mac McKee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>If drone technologies can be made affordable, they could potentially provide very valuable information about when and where to apply precise quantities of water to the crop. Farmers with the right irrigation technology could use this information to accurately apply irrigation water at varying rates throughout the field rather than the same rate everywhere, which can lead to waste.</p>
<h2>Managing in the future</h2>
<p>As water demand increases, the competition for a fixed water supply will become more difficult to manage, especially in arid and semi-arid parts of the world and places where populations will grow rapidly. Since water use in irrigated agriculture is generally very inefficient, and since the economic value of water for agriculture is typically much lower that it is for cities and industry, there will be a natural trend to reduce water allocation to agriculture in favor of other uses. It’s important for water managers and policymakers to understand these trade-offs and how alternative schemes for water allocation will have economic, environmental and social impacts.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82849/original/image-20150525-32586-fl4dxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Will a drier future mean farming – and irrigating – in conditions like those currently in Saudi Arabia?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/6964519965">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>As climate change increases the uncertainty in future water supplies, water management institutions will need to operate with greater flexibility in order to respond effectively to shifts in both water demands and supplies. Remote sensing and information technologies will be two tools they can use to help fit agricultural uses into the larger, more complex total water puzzle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mac McKee receives funding from various Federal sources that support academic research institutions. These include USDA, NASA, and water and natural resources management agencies in the State of Utah.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alfonso Torres-Rua receives funding from from various Federal sources that support academic research institutions. These include USDA, NASA, and water and natural resources management agencies in the State of Utah.</span></em></p>The majority of water that people use goes to agriculture. In a drier, hungrier future, we’ll need to use what water we have with less waste. Technologies being developed now will help.Mac McKee, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State UniversityAlfonso Torres-Rua, Research Engineer at Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.