Why the drone buzz is getting louder

In 2012, peer-reviewed journal Tropical Conservation Science ran an article announcing the ‘dawn of drone ecology,’ hailing the aerial technology as an alternative to satellite remote sensing mapping, with competitive cost and photographic advantages. Since then, the drone has been flying in a fast-moving cloud of enterprise, both on the part of developers and of researchers in all fields figuring out how to put these devices to best use in their sector – forestry and landscape management notwithstanding.