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Drones
Special Issues
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geophysical Mapping and Monitoring
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Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geophysical Mapping and Monitoring

A special issue of Drones (ISSN 2504-446X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2026 | Viewed by 805

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bastien Dupuy

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Guest Editor
SINTEF Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research, Trondheim, Norway
Interests: drone geophysics; natural hazards; drone GPR; snow science
Dr. Filippo Accomando

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA), National Research Council (CNR), Napoli, Italy
Interests: drone geophysics; UAV magnetic sensors; archaeogeophysics; geology
Dr. Piyoosh Jaysaval

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99354, USA
Interests: drone geophysics—EM, magnetic, and GPR; AI/ML; high-performance computing; modeling and inversion
Dr. Yuxin Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Interests: electromagnetic geophysics; multi-physics drone applications in minerals; energy and infrastructure systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UASs) in geophysical investigations represents a rapidly growing research topic. By combining the use of lightweight, easy-to-fly and affordable airborne platforms with compact geophysical sensors, UASs enable efficient, high-resolution mapping of subsurface in areas where traditional ground-based surveys are less efficient, more risky or time consuming. Over the past decade, advances in sensor miniaturization, autonomous flight control, and data processing have significantly expanded the capabilities of drone-based geophysics. These systems now play a pivotal role in mineral exploration, natural hazard assessment and monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, environmental science and object detection. Given the global demand for safer, more sustainable, and cost-effective geoscience practices, this research area is gaining increasing importance.

This Special Issue aims to bring together innovative research and applied studies showcasing the integration of UAS platforms with geophysical methods for mapping and monitoring purposes. The topic aligns closely with the scope of MDPI’s journal Drones, highlighting advances in aerial data acquisition technologies, sensor integration, navigation strategies and environmental applications. By focusing on geophysical use cases, this Issue will strengthen the journal’s commitment to interdisciplinary drone research in Earth and environmental sciences.

We welcome original research articles, technical notes, and case studies related to UAS-based geophysical systems. Topics may include (but are not limited to) UAS-borne magnetometry, GPR, electromagnetic induction, gravimetry, radiometrics, radar interferometry, seismic and hybrid multi-sensor platforms; system design and payload optimization; data processing and inversion methods tailored to UAS data; operational and regulatory challenges; and novel applications in challenging or sensitive environments. Review articles providing synthesis and outlook on UAS-based geophysics are also encouraged.

Dr. Bastien Dupuy
Dr. Filippo Accomando
Dr. Piyoosh Jaysaval
Dr. Yuxin Wu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Drones is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • earth science
  • geophysics
  • magnetics
  • electromagnetic
  • gravity
  • GPR
  • hyperspectral
  • radiometrics
  • data processing
  • miniaturized sensors
  • sensor integration
  • UAS payload optimization
  • subsurface mapping

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 10896 KB  
Article
UAV Multisensor Observation of Floating Plastic Debris: Experimental Results from Lake Calore
by Nicola Angelo Famiglietti, Anna Verlanti, Ludovica Di Renzo, Ferdinando Nunziata, Antonino Memmolo, Robert Migliazza, Andrea Buono, Maurizio Migliaccio and Annamaria Vicari
Drones 2025, 9(11), 799; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones9110799 - 17 Nov 2025
Viewed by 579
Abstract
This study addresses the observation of floating plastic debris in freshwater environments using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) multi-sensor strategy. An experimental campaign is described where an heterogeneous plastic assemblage, namely a plastic target, and a naturally occurring leaf-litter mat are observed by [...] Read more.
This study addresses the observation of floating plastic debris in freshwater environments using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) multi-sensor strategy. An experimental campaign is described where an heterogeneous plastic assemblage, namely a plastic target, and a naturally occurring leaf-litter mat are observed by a UAV platform in the Lake Calore (Avellino, Southern Italy) within the framework of the “multi-layEr approaCh to detect and analyze cOastal aggregation of MAcRo-plastic littEr” (ECOMARE) Italian Ministry of Research (MUR)-funded project. Three UAV platforms, equipped with optical, multispectral, and thermal sensors, are adopted, which overpass the two targets with the objective of analyzing the sensitivity of optical radiation to plastic and the possibility of discriminating the plastic target from the natural one. Georeferenced orthomosaics are generated across the visible, multispectral (Green, Red, Red Edge, Near-Infrared—NIR), and thermal bands. Two novel indices, the Plastic Detection Index (PDI) and the Heterogeneity Plastic Index (HPI), are proposed to discriminate between the detection of plastic litter and natural targets. The experimental results highlight that plastics exhibit heterogeneous spectral and thermal responses, whereas natural debris showed more homogeneous signatures. Green and Red bands outperform NIR for plastic detection under freshwater conditions, while thermal imagery reveals distinct emissivity variations among plastic items. This outcome is mainly explained by the strong NIR absorption of water, the wetting of plastic surfaces, and the lower sensitivity of the Mavic 3′s NIR sensor under high-irradiance conditions. The integration of optical, multispectral, and thermal data demonstrate the robustness of UAV-based approaches for distinguishing anthropogenic litter from natural materials. Overall, the findings underscore the potential of UAV-mounted remote sensing as a cost-effective and scalable tool for the high-resolution monitoring of plastic pollution over inland waters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geophysical Mapping and Monitoring)
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