This paper presents results of an exhaustive survey of commercially-applied drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) including a review of their applications, features, characteristics, and other information through a wealth of secondary data, particularly online records and documents consulted along with key-informant interviews. A simple descriptive-quantitative method was applied to treat the data. It was found that UAVs are now used in such areas as Agriculture, Real Estate, Film and TV, Oil and Gas, Construction, Fisheries, Wildlife Surveillance, Water Management and Security. Out of 30 sample applications documented, 23.33% are dedicated in providing support to public/civilian security. Agriculture, Photography and Wildlife Surveillance rank next with 16.67%. Three (3) or 10% were used in Real Estates; two (2) or 6.67% were for Fisheries; and one (1) or 3.33% were used each for Oil and Gas, Construction and Water Management. Fixed-winged UAVs are used for surveying and capturing wider range of imagery while multi-rotors are used to taking close and contained objects and locations here there is need for greater maneuverability on capturing images. The ScanEagle drone developed by Boeing is the most expensive costing $500,000. It has a fixed-wing design, launched through a catapult, and has a range of 100 kilometers. It can fly at 69 miles per hour at an altitude of 19,500 feet for 24 hours carrying a load of up to 48.5 pounds.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAV Drones