'The USGS National Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office utilizes UAS technology for collecting remote sensing data on a local scale. Typical UAS projects encompass areas that are too large to cover on foot and too small for traditional aircraft missions. The flexibility of operations and relative low cost of UAS allow scientists to support a range of activities including monitoring environmental conditions, analyzing the impacts of climate changes, responding to natural hazards, understanding landscape change rates and consequences, conducting fire assessments, tracking wildlife inventories, aiding search and rescue, and supporting related land management and emergency response missions. The USGS EROS Center manages and distributes data for the UAS Project Office. '