Perspectives on the use of drones in socio-environmental studies and collective public health: What are the ethical issues and which technical protocols should be followed?

ABSTRACT: The use of remote sensors onboard of UAV platforms (drones) in environmental, social and health  research is a relatively recent phenomenon and has been gaining popularity in the scientific community. In these  studies, the development of differentiated protocols is necessary for the acquisition and processing of images with  drones. In studies involving image processing with AI algorithms, for example, the standardization of image  acquisition procedures is an essential step. In socio-environmental and public health studies, the inclusion of ethical  protocols should be considered to guarantee the privacy and security of the population, as well as an appropriate  integration of this technology with traditional knowledge. This thematic section presents different experiences in the  collection and use of drone images to discuss the protocols developed within the scope of the projects: 1) Harmonize,  which analyzes public health in the context of climate change and uses images acquired by drones in landscapes of  hotspots in Brazil and Colombia; 2) Netflora, which maps tree species of economic value in the Amazon, using drone  images and; 3) PaCTAS, which uses images captured by drones to monitor landscape changes in border territories in  the Alto Solimões.