3. UAVs in glaciological research
Present day UAVs have all the necessary equipment and functionalities to make them useful for glaciological research. Nowadays, UAVs can be fully automated, as they are equipped with software-designed flight planning for optimal land coverage, and on-board autopilot to follow a predetermined course and the sensors to acquire images with simultaneous on-board Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) acquisitions. On completion of the flight, a log file consisting of provisional orientation parameters for each image is downloaded from the aircraft. This information helps with the further processing of images and is particularly relevant for the mountainous glacial terrain as the
unstable air conditions and rapid elevation changes often make the image orientationsmore variable.