 Unmanned aircraft systems, UAS, have evolved rapidly over the past decade driven by military uses and are now finding application among civilian users for earth-sensing reconnaissance and scientific data collection purposes. The potential advantages of an unmanned platform depend on many factors, such as aircraft, sensor types, mission objectives, and regulatory requirements. Currently, regulations concerning UAS operation present significant barriers to entry for scientific users, but the technology has the potential to revolutionize natural science observations similar to those transformations brought about by GIS and GPS two decades ago. This article was authored by Adam C. Watts, Everday Hinckley, and Vincent G. Ambrosia.