Do you like exploring the outdoors? You probably do, otherwise you wouldn’t have clicked on this article. What do you like most about it? Walking trails? Climbing mountains? Finding a meadow to relax on?
All of that is nice, but imagine if you could see all of it from a different angle. Not one angle – all the angles. That’s exactly what drones can do. They allow you to get high above the treetops, sweep over the cliffs, and capture wilderness like you never thought possible.
There are so many untouched landscapes that almost nobody ever saw. Think about being one of the first few to catch a glimpse of them. Many places we’d all want to see are hard to access so we’re left to wonder what’s out there, imagining what it would be like to go. But a drone will easily fly over any kind of terrain and catch incredible visuals.
A drone can be the ultimate outdoor buddy that will take your adventures to a new level. Learn how drones change the way we explore our world.
Drones in Scenic Photography
Regular cameras are great and of course, we’re grateful to have them. Phone cameras are awesome, too. But drones, well… Drones are a whole other story.
Your regular camera can’t fly above mountains, glide over forests, or skim across oceans. Drones can. They’ll give you a perspective you just can’t get from the ground and you’ll be able to travel and take photos and videos that you’ll never forget. Can you even imagine looking back on a trip and seeing the stunning views of the places you visited? Winding trails of a national park, waves crashing along the coastline, wildlife in their natural habitat, etc. It’s really no wonder that so many adventurers use drones to create content for their social media.
And speaking of social media, if that’s something you’re passionate about, you’ll be happy to know that modern drones have advanced cameras that take photos and videos in high quality. They have features like wide-angle lenses and stabilization to make your photos look smooth and professional even if the conditions are windy.
If you love the outdoors, you’ll love having a drone.
What to Use the Drone for
Drones originally were developed for military applications. However, they have a wide range of peaceful, helpful, very practical, and fun applications in civil life. Here are some of the best ways to use them.
Mapping Remote Areas
A drone is like a guide that flies ahead of you. Let’s say you’re exploring a really dense forest or maybe you’re hiking on a bit of a tricky trail. A drone can be a huge help here because it can scout the area and find the easiest, safest path for you.
Think of it like an aerial map that shows you current information. It will help you avoid dead ends and dangerous spots and all you’ll have to focus on is enjoying yourself.
An example I witnessed was my colleague’s flying a drone over the broken satellite dish at the top of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). A crane was to remove and replace the satellite dish. Because these dishes are pointing upwards when not receiving data the dish had collected a heavy load of snow inside. Therefore, the person operating the crane needed to know how the snow was distributed in the dish.
Making Epic Content for Social Media
videos of your outdoor fashion, hikes, camping trips, beach trips, … Just think of how amazing your Instagram feed will look with aerial shots. Imagine standing on a cliff with the sunset glowing behind you and then taking that photo. That’s some next-level golden hour, isn’t it?
Helping in Emergencies
A drone can literally save lives. If someone gets lost on a hike or there’s an emergency in a faraway area, a drone can quickly cover a large area and find the person. Many rescue teams also use drones to deliver food, water, and first-aid kits to difficult to reach places. If you know you have that kind of help right there in your backpack, you’ll feel a lot safer on your adventures.
In 2012, the drones of UAF, for instance, surveilled the sea-ice in the Norton Sound. Sea-ice scientists supported by locals interpreted the ice in terms of thickness so the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy could break a path for the Russian tanker Renda to deliver fuel to Nome. Due to a storm the last delivery in fall hadn’t been possible, and the community would had run out of fuel in March.
The university’s drones have also helped in mapping of wildfire spread when smoke prohibited exploration with crewed aircrafts. Drones equipped with methane detectors can help find leaks in the Trans-Alaska pipeline.
In 2021, seven residents of Unalakleet (an island about 150 miles across Norton Sound from Nome) learned to fly uncrewed aircraft systems to support the Coast Guard’s oil spill response, fuel tank inspection, and search and rescue efforts.
Scientific Applications of UAVs
Scientific applications beyond sea-ice and wildfire research include counting of wildlife like sea lions, penguins, cariboo in remote areas. Equipped with lidars drones scientists can collect data of canopy height. Flying an Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) a drone can monitor changes in terrain height. Equipped with detectors for gases and/o aerosols a group of drones can map air pollution.
Of course, data collected in the various spectral ranges have to be processed by scientific algorithms to extract the information. These automatic detection software packages are a form of AI like applied in quality control of fabrics in the textile industry.
Looking at Nature and Wildlife
Drones are excellent for people who love seeing wild animals in their natural habitat without disturbing them, especially when it comes to shy animals like deer. And speaking of them, you can also use your drone for drone deer recovery to spot injured deer and call for help.
In states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan, where there’s lots of deer, drone technology has changed how we operate in wildlife. Drone deer recovery in Wisconsin, and in Ohio are allowed, though with restrictions/conditions. And you require a hunting or a special use permit. In Michigan, there is no permit required, but drone use is allowed only for non-hunting purposes.
The most popular application of drones in drone recovery is to locate injured deer (especially during hunting seasons) and help them. You can also use it to keep an eye on how ecosystems change over time, where birds migrate to, or track how a river winds through a valley.
You’ll get an entirely new way to appreciate the outdoors and, really, the options are endless.
Tip: Laws regarding flying drones differ among States. Therefore, make yourself familiar whether or not flying them is permitted, restricted over certain areas like wildlife refugees or National Parks, whether you need a permit, and about the required/allowed flight height and fly corridors. Note that the noise may lead to shy animals may abandon their babies.
Traffic Surveillance
Just think about the morning rush hour. Knowing traffic jam or icy roads and avoiding them maybe helpful.
Conclusions on how drones Change the Way We Explore
If you never thought about getting a drone, now you probably can’t wait to get your hands on it. And that makes total sense because a drone is incredibly fun to have, but more importantly, it’s also very practical.
A drone is the closest thing to ever being a bird, and who hasn’t wanted to be a bird at least once when they were a kid?
References Related to How Drones Change the Way We Explore the Outdoors
Mölders, N., Butwin, M.K., Madden, J.M., Tran, H.N., Sassen, K. and Kramm, G., 2015. Theoretical investigations on mapping mean distributions of particulate matter, inert, reactive, and secondary pollutants from wildfires by unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Open Journal of Air Pollution, 4(03), p.149.
Dammann, D.O., Eicken, H., Mahoney, A.R., Saiet, E., Meyer, F.J. and John, C., 2017. Traversing sea ice—linking surface roughness and ice trafficability through SAR polarimetry and interferometry. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 11(2), pp.416-433.
Featured photo by Kanel Bulle. Source: deposiphotos.com
© 2013-2025 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved
Using drones not only allows for stunning photography but also aids in mapping.