Drones in Alaska serve a wide array of functions, playing a vital role in both recreational and commercial sectors while operating under FAA regulations and local flight restrictions. Commercially, they are increasingly used in agriculture for crop monitoring, in wildlife conservation for tracking animal populations, and in emergency response efforts such as search and rescue operations or delivering supplies to remote areas. Law enforcement agencies also deploy drones for surveillance and situational awareness, while scientists rely on them for collecting critical data—especially for studying the impacts of climate change in Alaska’s unique and often inaccessible environments.
Beyond their professional applications, drones are valuable tools for inspecting infrastructure like pipelines, power lines, and bridges, helping ensure safety in harsh and expansive terrain. In mountainous regions, drones are even used for avalanche control, assisting ski patrols and safety crews. Meanwhile, recreational drone enthusiasts use them for aerial photography, videography, and racing, taking advantage of Alaska's vast and stunning landscapes. Together, these uses highlight the growing importance of drones across Alaskan industries and communities.
Drones are valuable tools for various scientific research projects, including ecological studies, geological surveys, and mapping.
In Alaska, drones are indispensable tools for scientific research across a wide range of disciplines, including ecological studies, geological surveys, glaciology, and high-resolution mapping of remote or hazardous terrain. These research activities often require collecting precise data in areas that are difficult or dangerous to access by foot or traditional aircraft. Because these operations support funded projects and involve systematic data collection, they fall under commercial or governmental use, requiring drone pilots to hold an FAA Part 107 certification. This ensures that operators are trained in mission planning, airspace regulations, and safe flying practices critical for maintaining data integrity and minimizing risk. The TRUST test, designed only for recreational drone use, does not meet the standards necessary for professional scientific work. Through the use of Part 107-certified pilots, Alaskan researchers can push the boundaries of discovery in some of the world’s most extreme and revealing environments.
"This work is only the tip of the iceberg for what the technology will allow us to accomplish."
Gustavo Lozada - Technology and Information Systems Operations Manager
Studies of planet Earth are best done using a wide variety of tools because geologic processes occur at all scales. For example, satellites and seismometers are used to study Earth at the global scale, whereas microscopes and mass spectrometers are used to study Earth at the crystal and atomic scales. Earth science discoveries often correlate with technological advances in the tools used to record observations and make measurements. In some cases, these advances allow scientists to detect what was previously unknown. One such tool, which is just starting to revolutionize the study of planet Earth, is unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones.
Drones are becoming useful tools in ecological research with their expanded viewing capabilities. The Syracuse area is becoming an important testing ground for new drone applications. This intern will be based at the Cornell Biological Field Station in Madison County just east of Syracuse on Oneida Lake. They will work with aquatic and terrestrial researchers to incorporate drones in ecological research. An underwater drone will survey fish habitat and behavior, benthic invertebrate coverage, and unique fields of manganese nodules locally known as pancakes. Aerial drones will be used to assess aquatic macrophyte coverage in nearshore habitat, bird nesting on islands, and forest canopy structure. Video content from the project will be developed into a wide range of extension materials for education and research.
Drone primary uses unpiloted aerial systems (UAS), or drones, to collect data for geological investigations, mapping and surveying, and for promotional purposes. We maintain a number of multi-rotor UAS of different sizes and capabilities that are equipped with various sensors for capturing optical, thermal, multispectral or LiDAR images.
Some of the resources we create from the collected data include:
photos and videos
3D maps
orthomosaics — highly detailed, map-like images made by combining many smaller images
2D and 3D meshes and point clouds (for ground surface reconstruction)
Drone mapping, also known as drone surveying or UAV mapping, involves using drones equipped with cameras and other sensors to collect and analyze geospatial data for various applications. This technique offers efficiency, accuracy, and safety advantages compared to traditional mapping methods.
What Is Drone Mapping?
Drone mapping is the use of aerial data to create 2D and 3D maps, models, and other outputs, such as orthomosaics.
3D mapping with a drone is efficient and a lot more cost-effective than traditional alternatives. And it can be especially useful for creating maps of hard-to-reach or hazardous locations, minimizing the need for the area to be walked on foot and thereby increasing safety.
