Overview of the Application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Arctic Atmospheric Observation System

As a result of global warming, the climate in the Arctic region is undergoing dramatic changes. The Arctic atmospheric system is an important part of the Arctic climate, and it also plays a vital role in understanding the dramatic changes of the Arctic climate. Limited by many factors such as severe weather, observation location and safety of researchers, the accuracy of data obtained by the traditional platform for observing the Arctic atmospheric system is low. However, this kind of low-precision data cannot be used to establish an accurate Arctic climate model. As a new type of mobile observation platform, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for in-situ observation. And they are widely used for scientific research in the Antarctic and Arctic regions because of their flexibility, low cost and applicability to high-risk areas. An overview of UAVs, which have been used in the Arctic atmospheric observation system over the past few decades, is provided in this paper to reflect the important role of UAVs in observing the Arctic atmosphere. Additionally, both the disadvantages and development trends of the above UAVs are also summarized in this paper.