Image Source: Aljazeera America (http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/photo-gallery/2015/12/photos-flooding-inundates-missouri-and-illinois.html)

The tragedy of the flooding in Missouri has been brought into sharp focus by drone journalism. The Wall Street Journal posted a drone video that shows the devastation up close and personal. This kind of footage would be impossible without a drone. Even a helicopter would not be able to get these shots since flying that low would greatly disturb the water due to the downwash from the rotor blades.

The drone video of the flooding is just another example of the good that can be achieved with this new technology. Clearly the small UAS rule is urgently needed to allow our country to benefit from the positive impact that drones can provide.

About the Author

Michael Braasch is the Thomas Professor of Electrical Engineering at Ohio University (OU), a Principal Investigator with the Avionics Engineering Center (also at OU) and is the co-founder of GPSoft LLC (a software company specializing in navigation-related toolboxes for MATLAB). He has been conducting aircraft navigation research for 30 years and is an internationally recognized expert in GPS and inertial navigation.