Special Issues

Drones publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Digital Twins and Extended Reality: Opportunities and Challenges of Integrated Applications (2nd Edition)
edited by Daniela Oreni, and
submission deadline 10 Oct 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 5186 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs digital twin XR-MR-AR-VR scan-to-BIM— BIM projects; HBIM projects; BIM-to-FEA; CoSim; BEM; InfraBIM conservation; management and dissemination of cultural built heritage fault diagnosis energy; structural analysis; and costs evaluation virtual museum; virtual– visual storytelling drone-based and drone-supported solutions
Visual Language Models and Large Language Models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles submission deadline 16 Oct 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 6670 | Submission Open
Keywords: large language models; visual language models; unmanned aerial vehicles; autonomous navigation; few-shot learning; intelligent UAV systems
Implementation of UAV Systems for Cultural Heritage submission deadline 20 Oct 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1971 | Submission Open
Keywords: cultural heritage; heritage documentation; drones; 3D point clouds; structure from motion; laser scanning; multispectral imaging
When Deep Learning Meets Geometry for Air-to-Ground Perception on Drones: 2nd Edition
edited by , Yangliu Kuai, Hongqi Fan and Gongjian Wen
submission deadline 23 Oct 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 906 | Submission Open
Keywords: object detection  ; object tracking  ; object localization  ; object segmentation  ; vision foundation models  ; multimodal data processing
Recent Developments in Artificial Intelligence and Interdisciplinary Research for UAV Application
edited by Haokui Zhang, Liang Wang, Jingtao Sun and Xizhe Xue
submission deadline 25 Oct 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 8248 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV platform; image processing; large language model; visual language model; UAV communication; UAVs in socio-economic development
UAVs for Nature Conservation Tasks in Complex Environments
edited by Tom Richardson, Ulrik Pagh Schultz Lundquist and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1638 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV/MAV; perception; collaborative; wildlife; complex environments; navigation; mapping; real-time
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Advances in UAV-Based Remote Sensing for Climate-Smart Agriculture
edited by Hongquan Wang, and
submission deadline 31 Oct 2025 | Viewed by 194 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles; remote sensing; climate-smart agriculture; crop phenotyping; precision agriculture
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
IoT-Enabled UAV Networks for Secure Communication
edited by Bing Chen, , , Yutao Jiao and Zhiyi Tian
submission deadline 6 Nov 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3832 | Submission Open
Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); flying ad hoc networks (FANET); drones; ground control station (GCS)
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Civil Applications of Unmanned Aircraft Systems: 2nd Edition
edited by , Fernando Veiga López, Enrique Aldao Pensado and Gabriel Fontenla-Carrera
submission deadline 8 Nov 2025 | 9 articles | Viewed by 19411 | Submission Open
Keywords: drones; surveying; unmanned aircraft systems; regulations; swarm; photogrammetry; remote sensing; earth observation; guidance; navigation; and control; aerodynamics
Distributed Control, Optimization, and Game of UAV Swarm Systems (2nd Edition)
edited by Zhi Feng, Rui Yan, , Xiaoduo Li and Qing Wang
submission deadline 10 Nov 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 10895 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV swarm systems; distributed control; formation control; distributed optimization; intelligent motion planning; swarm game; distributed Nash equilibrium seeking
Advances in Intelligent Coordination Control for Autonomous UUVs
edited by Haitao Zhang, Bin-Bin Hu, , Mingkang Long and Henglai Wei
submission deadline 10 Nov 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 4310 | Submission Open
Keywords: cooperative control; autonomous underwater unmanned vehicles; decision making; game theory; machine learning; control theory; distributed optimization; intelligent connected vehicles; vehicle dynamics control
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Advanced Autonomous Mobility Toward Low-Altitude Economy and Three-Dimensional Transportation Systems
edited by Xiangkun He, Hailong Huang, Caizheng Wang and Henglai Wei
submission deadline 11 Nov 2025 | 11 articles | Viewed by 21342 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous aerial vehicles for urban air mobility; autonomous ground vehicles for smart cities; end-to-end autonomous ground and aerial vehicle technologies; AI and machine learning applications in 3D traffic management; cybersecurity and privacy concerns in connected aerial and ground mobility  ; autonomous multimodal mobility technologies; 3D transportation infrastructure planning and design; sensor technologies and perception systems for 3D transportation navigation; energy-efficient propulsion systems for aerial vehicles  ; human factors for aerial autonomous mobility
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Wearable Technologies for Driving Drones: Innovations and Applications
edited by , and Bojan Jerbić
submission deadline 12 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 3634 | Submission Open
Keywords: wearable technology; drone control systems; human– drone interaction; bio-sensing; gesture recognition; haptic feedback; robotics; augmented reality (AR); virtual reality (VR); ergonomics in drone piloting
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Detection, Identification and Tracking of UAVs and Drones
edited by Richard Han, V.P Nguyen, Karthik Dantu and
submission deadline 14 Nov 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 24713 | Submission Open
Keywords: detection; tracking; identification; sensor fusion; artificial intelligence; machine learning; localization
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Drone Communication, Networking, and Trajectory Control in Urban Environments
edited by , Yu Zhang, Ningning Hou and Yimeng Feng
submission deadline 15 Nov 2025 | 8 articles | Viewed by 11015 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone communication and networking; multi-drone coordination; real-time data transmission; urban air traffic management; drone navigation; trajectory planning; sustainable urban transport; on-board AI processing; millimeter wave radar enabled drone navigation; drone remote sensing using millimeter wave radar; LoRa-assisted drone communication and networking; LoRa for long range drone applications; novel drone applications; drone assisted wireless communications for 5G and beyond; drone security; integrated sensing and communication drone networks; remote object detection from drone; urban computing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advancing UAV-Based Remote Sensing: Innovations, Techniques and Applications
edited by Rui Li, Yinxia Cao, Haoyang Yang and Dongyu Li
submission deadline 15 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 386 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV remote sensing; drone path planning; image enhancement; multispectral and hyperspectral imaging; thermal remote sensing; precision mapping; data fusion techniques; environmental monitoring; disaster response applications; machine learning in UAV data analysis
Physical-Layer Security in Drone Communications—2nd Edition
edited by Dongming Li, and Yi Lou
submission deadline 20 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1987 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone communications; physical-layer security; key generation; drone jitter; beamforming and jamming; trajectory planning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Unmanned Aerial Manipulation with Physical Interaction
edited by Yushu Yu and Vincenzo Lippiello
submission deadline 20 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1587 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial manipulation; cooperative unmanned aerial transportation; fully actuated unmanned aerial vehicle; interaction control; human– robot interaction; localization; reinforcement learning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Advanced Flight Dynamics and Decision-Making for UAV Operations
edited by , , Elias K. Xidias and
submission deadline 20 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 403 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV flight dynamics; autonomous control; decision-making; machine learning; reinforcement learning; neural networks; UAV simulation; swarm UAVs; 3D Printing; UAV design; additive manufacturing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Advances in the Use of UAVs for Monitoring and Analysis of Forage and Agricultural Crops: Technologies, Methods and Applications
edited by and Luciana Sandra Bastos De Souza
submission deadline 21 Nov 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 21491 | Submission Open
Keywords: precision agriculture; forage crops; agricultural monitoring; image analysis; yield estimation; thermal imaging; machine learning; 3D modeling; data modeling
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Advances in Autonomous Underwater Drones: 2nd Edition
edited by Daxiong Ji, , Dena Bazazian and Mohd Hisham Bin Nordin
submission deadline 25 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1608 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous underwater drones; AUV; control algorithms; navigation algorithms; driving mechanisms; design of drones
Innovative Approaches to Biodiversity and Ecology Monitoring: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Drone Technology
edited by
submission deadline 25 Nov 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1197 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone imagery; artificial intelligence; biodiversity monitoring; ecological assessment; remote sensing; machine learning; habitat mapping; species distribution; conservation technology; environmental change
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Advances in Guidance, Navigation, and Control
edited by
submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 4039 | Submission Open
Keywords: guidance systems; navigation systems; control systems; unmanned systems
Rapid Disaster Assessment and Post-Disaster Recovery Using UAV Remote Sensing submission deadline 30 Nov 2025 | Viewed by 410 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV photogrammetry; rapid mapping; disaster response; post-disaster recovery; change detection; AI and remote sensing; multi-sensor platforms; emergency mapping; UAV-GIS integration; damage assessment
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Drone-Enabled Smart Sensing: Challenges and Opportunities
edited by , Calvin Coopmans and
submission deadline 5 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1601 | Submission Open
Keywords: digital twins; smart cities; machine learning; optimal sensor placement; modeling and control; environmental monitoring; precision agriculture; swarm coordination and control; real-time optimization; edge computing; internet of things
Technologies and Applications of UAV Channel Models in Communications and Spectrum Awareness: 2nd Edition submission deadline 10 Dec 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1435 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV channel model; UAV channel sounding; UAV ISAC; UAV communication; UAV spectrum sensing; UAV trajectory planning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Internet of Drones: Applications, Communication Infrastructures, Architectures, and Protocols for FANETs submission deadline 10 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 740 | Submission Open
Keywords: Internet of Drones; FANET; architecture; aerial wireless networks; drone communication; swarm communication
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
AI for Cybersecurity in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
edited by , Neji Mensi and Fatima Salahdine
submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 7895 | Submission Open
Keywords: AI-based cybersecurity frameworks; UAS cybersecurity; advanced AI models; secure communication protocols; autonomous systems; data privacy
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Path Planning, Trajectory Tracking and Guidance for UAVs: 3rd Edition submission deadline 15 Dec 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1773 | Submission Open
Keywords: path planning; trajectory tracking; guidance; navigation; and control; autonomous control; trajectory optimization; formation and reconfiguration
UAV Piloting, Training, Cooperation, and Interaction
edited by David Nembhard and Runwen Qin
submission deadline 16 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2459 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV piloting; HRI; UAV cooperation; pilot training; pilot biometrics; human performance in complex systems
Flight Control and Collision Avoidance of UAVs: 2nd Edition
edited by Rodney Swee Huat Teo and
submission deadline 16 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 204 | Submission Open
Keywords: artificial intelligence; autonomous navigation; collision avoidance; guidance systems; computer vision; obstacle detection; decision making under uncertainty; safety verification; robust control; multi-object tracking and association; visual servoing; conflict prediction; conflict resolution; collision checking; risk assessment
Autonomous Flight of Drone: Control, Trajectory Optimization and Mission Planning: 2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 19 Dec 2025 | 14 articles | Viewed by 26102 | Submission Open
Keywords: pilot control; intelligent control; UAV formation control; trajectory optimization; mission planning; autonomous system
Advances and Innovations in Drone Technology for Mining and Construction Applications submission deadline 19 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2224 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone technology (or UAV/UAS); aerial surveying and mapping; mining automation; construction monitoring; AI and machine learning in drones; safety and hazard inspection; environmental rehabilitation; digitalization in industry; rescue robotics and robotic mapping (UAV and terrestrial)
Resilient Networking and Task Allocation for Drone Swarms: 2nd Edition
edited by , and
submission deadline 25 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2242 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone swarms; UAV ad hoc networks; swarm cooperative communications; swarm secure issues; swarm cooperative decision making
Autonomous Drone Navigation in GPS-Denied Environments
edited by and Yang Liu
submission deadline 26 Dec 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 9091 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous drone navigation; GPS-denied environment; visual– inertial navigation; visual– inertial odometry; simultaneous localization and mapping; resource-constrained autonomous navigation; robust dynamic sensor calibration
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Control, Planning, and Embodied Intelligence of Agile UAVs in Indoor Environments
edited by , and Lin Zhao
submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1065 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous guidance and navigation; agile UAVs; indoor navigation; agile control; perception-aware planning; embodied intelligence
Cross-Modal Autonomous Cooperation for Intelligent Unmanned Systems
edited by Xingling Shao, Ben Niu, Feisheng Yang, Ziquan Yu and
submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 490 | Submission Open
Keywords: cross-modal perception; heterogeneous unmanned swarm; dynamic obstacle avoidance; human– robot collaboration; intelligent unmanned systems; autonomous navigation; energy management; security and privacy
Advanced Communication and Control Technologies for Next-Generation Drones
edited by , Franco Mazzenga, and
submission deadline 30 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 202 | Submission Open
Keywords: drones; UAV communication; underwater drone communication; drone control systems; swarm drones; tethered drones; AI for UAVs; FANETs; robotics; wireless systems; mission planning; intelligent systems; autonomous vehicles
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances of UAV in Precision Agriculture—2nd Edition
edited by , , and Dongbing Gu
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 11413 | Submission Open
Keywords: agricultural UAV; guidance; navigation and control; SLAM; swarm intelligence; remote sensing; crop phenotype awareness; crop and/or water stress assessment; drones for agricultural applications; drones for precision agriculture; precision viticulture
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
UAV Detection, Classification, and Tracking submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 5 articles | Viewed by 11156 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV detection; UAV classification; UAV tracking; optical sensors; IR sensors; RF sensors; radars; deep learning
Advances in Detection, Security, and Communication for UAV: 2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 8 articles | Viewed by 11058 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV communication; UAV network and 6G; UAV system architecture; interference management; artificial intelligence; detection and data collection; image processing; UAV network security
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in UAV Networks Towards 6G
edited by Changchuan Yin, and Mingzhe Chen
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3537 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV swarm; integrated space– air– ground networks; positioning; trajectory design; data collection
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Drones for Mapping and Monitoring Wetland Ecosystems submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 978 | Submission Open
Keywords: wetlands; long-term monitoring; mapping with drones; survey; sampling; conservation; harmful blooms
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Computational Fluid Dynamics for Next-Generation Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
edited by , Fernando Veiga López and Elena Beatriz Martín Ortega
submission deadline 31 Dec 2025 | Viewed by 162 | Submission Open
Keywords: computational fluid dynamics; urban air mobility; reduced order models; AI-enhanced flow prediction; wind turbulence; urban wind forecasting; microweather; wind gusts; wind-aware path planning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Next-Generation UAV Base Stations: Enabling Integrated Sensing, Communications, and the Low-Altitude Economy submission deadline 6 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 229 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV base stations; AI-driven drones; swarm intelligence; UAV-based integrated sensing and communications (ISAC); trajectory optimization; digital twinning; aerial edge computing; energy-efficient UAV communications; space– air– ground integrated network (SAGIN); 6G
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Drone-Centric Optical Wireless Networks: Innovations in 6G, AI, and Hybrid Communication Systems
edited by , Demostenes Zegarra Rodriguez, Shahid Mumtaz and
submission deadline 8 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 651 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone optical wireless communication; aerial free space optics; 6G networks; drone-based access points; AI-driven optimization; hybrid optical and RF systems; latency-sensitive applications; intelligent transportation systems; security in optical wireless networks; drone communication systems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Drones and Machine Learning as a Complementary Tools in Wildlife Biology Studies
edited by and
submission deadline 16 Jan 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 7388 | Submission Open
Keywords: drones; machine learning; Yolo; DeepLabCut; IR Camera; artificial intelligence; behavioural studies
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Urban Traffic Monitoring and Analysis Using UAVs
edited by , Ansar Yasar and
submission deadline 20 Jan 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 5595 | Submission Open
Keywords: urban traffic monitoring; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); data analytics; smart cities; traffic flow optimization; traffic safety; real-time; intelligent transportation systems; multi-UAV systems; traffic enforcement
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Advances in Perception, Communications, and Control for Drones: 2nd Edition submission deadline 26 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 137 | Submission Open
Keywords: perception; drone communications; autonomous control; communication-oriented control; perception-aware control; drone swarms
UAV Path Planning Algorithms for Surveillance and Reconnaissance in Civil Applications submission deadline 28 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 162 | Submission Open
Keywords: path planning algorithms; civil surveillance; reconnaissance missions; autonomous navigation; obstacle avoidance; multi-UAV systems; machine learning for navigation; deep reinforcement learning; real-time trajectory optimization; cooperative motion planning; sensor fusion; urban monitoring; disaster response; infrastructure inspection; rotary-wing; fixed-wing and convertible UAVs; ethics and regulation in UAV operations
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