Revolutionizing Surveillance: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology Innovations

Dear Colleagues,

The proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology is fundamentally transforming surveillance systems across civilian and security domains. Modern UAVs equipped with advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, and autonomous capabilities are enabling unprecedented monitoring solutions for applications ranging from disaster response and border security to environmental monitoring and smart city infrastructure. As UAV platforms become increasingly sophisticated, integrating multi-sensor payloads, edge computing, and collaborative networking with emerging semantic communication paradigms and space–air–ground integrated networks (SAGINs), they are evolving from simple observation tools into intelligent surveillance ecosystems capable of real-time decision-making and autonomous operation, intelligent information extraction, efficient bandwidth utilization, and seamless multi-layer connectivity across satellite, aerial, and terrestrial platforms..

However, the advancement of UAV-based surveillance introduces significant technical and operational challenges. Critical research areas include energy-efficient flight path optimization, real-time image processing under resource constraints, multi-UAV coordination for large-scale coverage, secure data transmission in contested environments, privacy-preserving surveillance frameworks, and AI-driven anomaly detection. Semantic communication techniques for goal-oriented data transmission, cross-layer optimization in heterogeneous space–air–ground architectures, and intelligent handover mechanisms across network tiers represent emerging challenges. These challenges are compounded by regulatory constraints, airspace integration requirements, weather resilience demands, and the need for seamless interoperability with existing ground-based surveillance infrastructure.

This Special Issue invites high-quality research and review articles addressing theoretical foundations, technological innovations, and practical applications of UAV-based surveillance systems. Submissions from both academia and industry exploring novel algorithms, hardware solutions, system architectures, and deployment strategies are welcome. Both theoretical analyses and experimental validations are encouraged to advance this rapidly evolving field.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• AI and deep learning for real-time object detection and tracking with UAV;
• Autonomous flight control and intelligent path planning;
• Swarm intelligence and collaborative multi-UAV surveillance;
• Semantic communication and goal-oriented data transmission
• Space–air–ground integrated network architectures
• Satellite-assisted UAV surveillance and relay systems
• Edge computing and onboard processing architectures;
• Secure communication protocols and anti-jamming techniques;
• Privacy-preserving surveillance methodologies;
• Computer vision algorithms for aerial imagery analysis;
• Counter-UAV technologies and airspace security;
• 5G/6G integration for UAV command and control;
• Thermal imaging and night-vision surveillance systems;
• Disaster response and emergency management applications;
• Wildlife monitoring and environmental surveillance;
• Smart city integration and infrastructure inspection;
• Adversarial robustness and system resilience;
• Performance benchmarking and evaluation frameworks;
• Ethical considerations in automated surveillance systems.

This Special Issue aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across robotics, computer vision, communications, and surveillance communities to advance next-generation UAV-based monitoring solutions.

Dr. Jiahui Li
Guest Editor

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