Conservation Drones

Drones have come to the fields of environmental protection and natural resources management in the form of Conservation Drones.  Researchers from the Swiss Federation of Technology and the University of England have created an autonomous plane with a 4.5-foot wingspan that uses GPS signals to fly preprogrammed routes, and bring back remarkably detailed pictures and data.  The drones have been utilized as part of orangutan studies, forest studies, river surveys, and fighting wildfires.