small, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS)

small, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) offer a high-resolution, non-contact platform for collecting a variety of environmental metrics including channel bathymetry; river discharge; hyperspectral-, multispectral-, lidar, RGB imagery; snowpack metrics; streamflow; water quality; and post-wildland fires. These platforms, sensors, and novel algorithms fill a gap between conventional ground-based methods, high-altitude aircraft, and satellites and deliver high-resolution data sets that are spatially and temporally relevant. Integrating sensors and conducting airworthiness flights require a multi-disciplinary approach, which involves input from engineers, geographers, hydrologists, and physical scientists.

This Research Topic is open to all, who wish to conduct research- to-operations using sUAS to address the environmental challenges that face earth science studies in the 21st Century.

The goal of this Research Topic is to establish a repository of sUAS research and operations that advance the utility of sUAS and various sensors used to address challenging earth science topics.

The Topic Editors encourage practitioners and researchers to submit original manuscripts that deliver near-field remote measurement of all-things river related including:
• Channel bathymetry and streamflow
• Snow-related products including snowpack metrics;
• Post-wildfire applications; and water quality.
• Near-field remotely-sensed data (active or passive) can be integrated with other platforms including conventional-ground-based measurements, manned or unmanned aircraft, and satellites, or ground-based imaging systems