UF was on a list released by the Federal Aviation Administration of the 81 public entities that applied for a license to use drones through October 2012.
Drones, which are unmanned aircrafts, are capable of highly advanced surveillance that some people consider intrusive, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
They carry surveillance equipment, video cameras, thermal imaging, GPS tracking and cellphone eavesdropping tools. They can also be equipped with license plate cameras and facial recognition, according to the foundation’s website.
However, UF, like other universities that have applied, use drones for research, said UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes.
Franklin Percival, program leader for the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, said certificates of authorization last one year, and UF has several certificates in effect.
Rebecca Jeschke, digital rights analyst for Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the foundation is most concerned with how law enforcement agencies will use drones, but it does understand the benefits of drone use in university research.
UF uses the technology in support of ongoing aerospace, geomatics, ecological and aquatic research, according to records on the foundation’s website.
The UF Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering’s Micro Air Vehicles Laboratory, the UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation’s Geomatics Program and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work with the development of drones for a way to monitor natural resources in an affordable and user-friendly way, according to the UF/IFAS UAS research webpage.
Unmanned aircrafts can observe remote areas that lack runways, making dangerous areas less of a threat.
Percival said that, with low-level manned aircrafts being the leading cause of work-related mortality for wildlife biologists, unmanned aircrafts could have a positive impact on safety.
“We are trying to come up with tools that improve our ability to do certain things,” he said. “And in this case it’s evaluating wildlife habitats.”
Contact Alexa Volland at avolland@alligator.org.
