Editing Surveillance (section)

===Aerial{{anchor|Aerial surveillance}}===
{{Further|Surveillance aircraft|Wide-area motion imagery}}
[[File:MicroAirVehicle.jpg|thumb|right|Micro Air Vehicle with attached surveillance camera]]

Aerial surveillance is the gathering of surveillance, usually visual imagery or video, from an airborne vehicle—such as an [[unmanned aerial vehicle]], [[helicopter]], or [[surveillance aircraft|spy plane]]. Military [[surveillance aircraft]] use a range of sensors (e.g. radar) to monitor the battlefield.

Digital imaging technology, miniaturized computers, and numerous other technological advances over the past decade have contributed to rapid advances in aerial surveillance hardware such as [[micro-aerial vehicles]], [[forward-looking infrared]], and high-resolution imagery capable of identifying objects at extremely long distances. For instance, the [[MQ-9 Reaper]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.military.com/equipment/mq-9-reaper|title=MQ-9 Reaper|last=Boyd|first=Ryan|language=en|access-date=2016-10-05}}</ref> a U.S. drone plane used for domestic operations by the [[Department of Homeland Security]], carries cameras that are capable of identifying an object the size of a milk carton from altitudes of {{convert|30,000|ft|km}}, and has [[forward-looking infrared]] devices that can detect the heat from a human body at distances of up to {{convert|60|km|mi|sp=us}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/the-rapid-rise-of-federal-surveillance-drones-over-america/473136/|title=The Rapid Rise of Federal Surveillance Drones Over America|last=Friedersdorf|first=Conor|website=[[The Atlantic]]|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-05|date=2016-03-10}}</ref> In an earlier instance of commercial aerial surveillance, the [[Killington Mountain]] ski resort hired 'eye in the sky' aerial photography of its competitors' parking lots to judge the success of its marketing initiatives as it developed starting in the 1950s.<ref>Edwards, Bruce, [http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20121109/BUSINESS03/711099916 "Killington co-founder Sargent dead at 83"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904091030/http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2FRH%2F20121109%2FBUSINESS03%2F711099916 |date=September 4, 2015 }}, Rutland ''Herald'', November 9, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2012.</ref>
[[File:HURT concept drawing.jpg|thumb | right | [[Heterogeneous Aerial Reconnaissance Team|HART]] program concept drawing from official [[Information Processing Technology Office|IPTO]] ([[DARPA]]) official website]]
The [[United States]] [[Department of Homeland Security]] is in the process of testing UAVs to patrol the skies over the United States for the purposes of [[critical infrastructure protection]], border patrol, "[[Intelligent transportation system|transit monitoring]]", and general surveillance of the U.S. population.<ref name="drones-us-skies">{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-11746_3-6055658.html|title=Drone aircraft may prowl U.S. skies|last=McCullagh|first=Declan|date=March 29, 2006|work=CNet News|access-date=March 14, 2009}}</ref> Miami-Dade police department ran tests with a vertical take-off and landing UAV from [[Honeywell]], which is planned to be used in [[SWAT]] operations.<ref name="police-uavs">{{cite news|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/12/06/220084/us-police-experiment-with-insitu-honeywell-uavs.html|title=US police experiment with Insitu, Honeywell UAVs |last=Warwick|first=Graham|date=June 12, 2007|work=FlightGlobal.com|access-date=March 13, 2009}}</ref> Houston's police department has been testing fixed-wing UAVs for use in "traffic control".<ref name="police-uavs"/>

The [[United Kingdom]], as well, is working on plans to build up a fleet of surveillance UAVs ranging from [[micro-aerial vehicles]] to full-size [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|drones]], to be used by police forces throughout the U.K.<ref name="uk-uav-fleet">{{cite news|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/07/17/215507/uk-home-office-plans-national-police-uav-fleet.html|title=UK Home Office plans national police UAV fleet |last=La Franchi|first=Peter|date=July 17, 2007|work=Flight International|access-date=March 13, 2009}}</ref>

In addition to their surveillance capabilities, MAVs are capable of carrying [[taser]]s for "[[crowd control]]", or weapons for killing enemy combatants.<ref name="uav-tazers">{{cite news|url=http://www.policeone.com/police-products/less-lethal/articles/99337-No-Longer-Science-Fiction-Less-Than-Lethal-Directed-Energy-Weapons/|title=No Longer Science Fiction: Less Than Lethal & Directed Energy Weapons|date=February 22, 2005|work=International Online Defense Magazine|access-date=March 15, 2009}}</ref>

Programs such as the [[Heterogeneous Aerial Reconnaissance Team]] program developed by [[DARPA]] have automated much of the aerial surveillance process. They have developed systems consisting of large teams drone planes that pilot themselves, automatically decide who is "suspicious" and how to go about monitoring them, coordinate their activities with other drones nearby, and notify human operators if something suspicious is occurring. This greatly increases the amount of area that can be continuously monitored, while reducing the number of human operators required. Thus a swarm of automated, self-directing drones can automatically patrol a city and track suspicious individuals, reporting their activities back to a centralized monitoring station.<ref name="hart-overview">{{cite web|url=http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/hart/docs/HART_Overview.pdf|title=HART Overview|date=August 2008|work=IPTO (DARPA) – Official website|access-date=March 15, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205233843/http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/hart/docs/HART_Overview.pdf|archive-date=December 5, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="hart-proposal">{{cite web|url=http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/solicit/baa/BAA-04-05_PIP.pdf |title=BAA 04-05-PIP: Heterogeneous Airborne Reconnaissance Team (HART) |date=December 5, 2003 |work=Information Processing Technology Office (DARPA) – Official Website |access-date=March 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127074930/http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/solicit/baa/BAA-04-05_PIP.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="defense-daily">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6712/is_40_236/ai_n29399227 |title=DARPA, Northrop Grumman Move Into Next Phase of UAV Control Architecture |last=Sirak |first=Michael |date=Nov 29, 2007 |work=Defense Daily |access-date=March 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309060941/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6712/is_40_236/ai_n29399227/ |archive-date=March 9, 2012 }}</ref>
In addition, researchers also investigate possibilities of autonomous surveillance by large groups of micro aerial vehicles stabilized by decentralized bio-inspired swarming rules.<ref>Saska, M.; Chudoba, J.; Preucil, L.; Thomas, J.; Loianno, G.; Tresnak, A.; Vonasek, V.; Kumar, V. Autonomous Deployment of Swarms of Micro-Aerial Vehicles in Cooperative Surveillance. In Proceedings of 2014 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS). 2014.</ref><ref>Saska, M.; Vakula, J.; Preucil, L. [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6907374/ Swarms of Micro Aerial Vehicles Stabilized Under a Visual Relative Localization]. In ICRA2014: Proceedings of 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2014.</ref>