In an example embodiment, a drone-based system comprises: a base station, wherein the base station is configured to provide drone control and power; a drone; a tether connecting the base station to the drone and configured to provide the drone with the power from the base station; and a lighting system, operably attached to the drone via the tether, configured to generate illumination of a ground area, wherein the illumination of the ground area is controllable by modifying least one of an intensity of the illumination and a height of the drone above the ground area.

A method and controller for autonomous control and station-keeping of an unmanned vehicle uses sensor data corresponding to at least geographical location and vertical position of the unmanned vehicle within a fluid environment and computes a gradient of the unmanned vehicle movement, uses the gradient to estimate a vertical profile of a feature of the fluid environment that affects the gradient of the unmanned vehicle, identifies a favourable position in the vertical profile where the feature of the fluid environment would transport the unmanned vehicle in a direction that minimizes a performance metric, and outputs a control signal based on the favourable position in the vertical profile. The control signal controls at least one actuator that causes the unmanned vehicle to ascend or descend to the favourable position in the vertical profile. The unmanned vehicle may be a high altitude platform (HAP).

A system for basing drones is described. A network of geographically diverse hangars provides storage and charging locations as well as backhaul communications infrastructure and video monitoring. As drones are needed, a central command point tasks an available drone, which may or may not already be located in proximity to a target. If additional drones are needed, drones can be flown to the area of interest and continuous coverage provided by charging drones while an active drone is conducting the mission, then rotating charged drones into the active mission. Structures for the hangars, the overall system, and methods of operation are described.

Systems, devices, and methods including: at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); at least one flight control computer (FCC) associated with each UAV, where the FCC controls movement of each UAV; at least one computing device associated with a ground control station; where the at least one FCC maintains a first flight pattern of a respective UAV of the at least one UAV above the ground control station; where the at least one computing device is configured to transmit a transition signal to the at least one FCC to transition the respective UAV of the at least one UAV from the first flight pattern to a second flight pattern in response to a wind speed exceeding a set threshold relative to a flight speed of the respective UAV of the at least one UAV.

An apparatus may include a processor configured to process photodiode signal information, which corresponds to a plurality of photodiodes of an aerial vehicle, for example, to identify a plurality of electric currents, which may be generated by the plurality of photodiodes based on energy of a light beam to charge a battery of the aerial vehicle. The processor may be configured to determine a vehicle-position displacement to displace the aerial vehicle based on the plurality of electric currents. The vehicle-position displacement may be configured to adjust a photodiode-beam relative position of the plurality of photodiodes relative to the light beam. The apparatus may include an output to provide position displacement information based on the vehicle-position displacement.

A method is provided for determining emissions from at least one source by inspection at an inspection area. The emissions include the presence or concentration of at least one predetermined gas and/or particles. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the collection of wind data is obtained by a moving UAV using at least one wind sensor.