After the earthquake which struck Japan in March 2011, they were the first ones to provide pictures from inside the destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant: Drones - in scientific terminology unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). However, UAS has so far played only in a minor role in civilian applications, especially in Europe. In this study, the potential civilian applications for UAS are identified and critically investigated. The study seeks to emphases the advantages as well as the limitations of unmanned aerial vehicles. The special characteristics of UAS are compared with existing alternatives which are already used in civilian reconnaissance missions, to determine and evaluate the potential of UAS in the civilian sphere. Special attention is given to UAS support in disaster management and the use of UAS in homeland security.

The institute’s german publication on this topic is available here, an english one will be available soon.