Editing Surveillance aircraft (section)

== Current civilian applications ==
[[Unmanned aerial vehicle|Drones]] are increasingly used in conservation work to complete tasks such as mapping [[forest cover]], tracking wildlife, and enforcing environmental laws by catching [[Illegal logging|illegal loggers]] or poachers.<ref>Koh, Lian Pin and Serge A. Wich. 2012. "Dawn of Drone Ecology: Low-Cost Autonomous Aerial Vehicles for Conservation." ''Tropical Conservation Science'' 5(2):121–32. Retrieved March 4, 2019 ( {{doi|10.1177/194008291200500202}}).</ref>

=== Monitoring protests ===
Surveillance drones, helicopters, and airplanes were deployed over 15 cities during the [[George Floyd protests|2020 George Floyd protests]]. Unmanned aircraft were used to track the movements of protestors and to provide aerial views of violent acts and arson. The recorded video was sent to a digital network that could be accessed by various federal agencies and local law enforcement for use in criminal investigations. However, the National Air Security Operations Center stated the drones flew at a height that made it impossible to identify individuals or license plates.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kanno-Youngs |first=Zolan |date=2020-06-19 |title=U.S. Watched George Floyd Protests in 15 Cities Using Aerial Surveillance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/george-floyd-protests-surveillance.html |access-date=2024-04-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Border patrol ===
Surveillance aircraft have recently been used to patrol maritime borders that are much longer than land borders and typically have less personnel. The [[Schengen Area]] in the [[European Union]] has recently used it to monitor their southern border in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]. They gather intelligence including illegal crossings, search and rescue operations, smuggling, and fishing. [[Belgium]] has also deployed drones to monitor irregular maritime activity and to find children lost on the beach.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Novotný |first=Vít |date=April 2020 |title=Surveillance Aircraft and the Borders of Schengen |journal=European View |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=27–35 |doi=10.1177/1781685820915975 |issn=1781-6858|doi-access=free }}</ref>