Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Antarctic Research: A Multi-Sensor Review

Antarctica is one of the most challenging environments for scientific fieldwork, where extreme weather, logistical constraints, and fragile ecosystems limit traditional survey methods. Over the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become valuable tools for overcoming many of these challenges. This review synthesizes results from successive Antarctic campaigns in the South Shetland Islands, primarily on Deception and Livingston Islands, to evaluate the contribution of UAV-based remote sensing to polar ecosystem monitoring. Applications include centimeter-scale topographic mapping of volcanic coastlines, thermal surveys of fumarole fields, automated penguin population assessments using deep-learning models, characterization of guano-driven vegetation gradients through spectral analysis, and detection of red snow algal blooms. These studies employed a range of sensors, including RGB, multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, and LiDAR systems, often integrated with Sentinel-2 imagery to link local observations with regional-scale patterns. We also describe a UAV-operated water-sampling system for trace-metal and nutrient analyses, extending drone applications beyond imaging to direct environmental monitoring. Across all case studies, UAVs provided rapid, accurate, and low-impact data acquisition while reducing disturbance to sensitive habitats and wildlife. Many of the resulting datasets have been made openly available, supporting wider scientific use. Collectively, these experiences demonstrate that UAVs have evolved from experimental platforms into established tools for polar research, significantly enhancing observational capabilities and improving our understanding of Antarctic ecosystem responses to climate change.