Drone Demo for GIS Day

November 21, 2025 cherrypd Our Communities 0

By Tricia Cherry —

Wednesday, November 19th was an annual international event known as GIS (Geographic Information System) Day. Beginning in 1999 and falling on the third Wednesday of every November, GIS Day celebrates and acknowledges the technology that allows for exploration and assistance in fields such as healthcare, urban planning, and disaster relief efforts. Among these forms of assistance are data-gathering drones.

In celebration of GIS Day, Miami Regionals UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) program and the Department of Geography hosted a drone demonstration throughout the day. Students who had registered were given information about drone technology and offered the chance to fly one under supervision. These demonstrations happened in sessions throughout the day: 10 – 11:15 am, 11:30 am – 12:45 pm, 1:15 – 2:30 pm, and 3 pm – 4:15 pm. The demos were conducted in an otherwise empty field to the west of Miami Hamilton’s main parking lot. This event was coordinated by Doctor Ziying Jiang, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Geography at the Oxford campus.

The Phantom, provided by Albers Aerospace, in flight.
A demonstrator carefully walking a student through the controls of The Phantom, with event
coordinator Doctor Ziying Jiang, nearby.

There was a full-sized drone called The Phantom, as well as a mini-drone, for the demo. The mini in particular had a tracking device and would follow a given object. The drones are available to be checked out with a license known as a Part 107. The drones also “know” where they are by a remote ID in each, and when low battery is detected, they will automatically return to their launching place and land gently on the ground.

The sky’s the limit.
With the overcast sky of last Wednesday, the drones were a bit hard to keep track of visually.

Toward the end of the third session, the mini drone fell and got lost in the tall grass of the field for a short time—retrieved by the first pilot of the session. Most sessions were scheduled to end at 2:30 pm.

A student races back to the meeting spot after retrieving a fallen mini drone.

When asked what motivated her to put this together, Doctor Jiang said that she sees the increasing demand for new drone technology and how it’s a growing field. She hopes that this event will spark interest in the technology and spread awareness of it. For those interested, classes on GIS are available at Miami Regionals under the GEO category.