Search and Rescue (SAR) operations often face formidable obstacles – from dense forests and rugged mountains to extreme cold and unpredictable weather. In Canada alone, SAR teams contend with thick forest canopies, vast mountainous terrain in the west, frigid northern climates, and maritime conditions in the east. These harsh environments make it difficult and dangerous for ground teams to cover enough area quickly. Fortunately, drones are emerging as a game-changer. They provide “eyes in the sky” and rapid payload delivery capabilities that help overcome rugged terrain and adverse conditions. In fact, by 2020 drones had already helped rescue over 500 people worldwide from peril – a number that has only grown since. Modern SAR drones are purpose-built to thrive where people and even helicopters struggle, making them invaluable for finding missing persons and delivering life-saving supplies in the toughest conditions.
DJI's Solutions Engineer Grant Hosticka had the opportunity to join a search and rescue drill at the recent Law Enforcement Drone Association conference in Ogden, UT with the WCSO SAR team and grabbed a narrated screen recording utilizing some of the latest features for the Matrice 4 series.
Thermal Eyes in the Sky: Finding the Missing in Rugged Terrain
One of the most critical drone capabilities in SAR is aerial thermal imaging. In wilderness searches, a drone can swiftly scan large areas and detect the heat signature of a missing person through darkness or dense foliage. This was demonstrated in a recent Malibu incident where an elderly man went missing at night – within minutes a drone’s infrared camera picked up a “significant heat signature” in thick brush, leading rescuers straight to him. Drones like the DJI Matrice 4 Thermal (Matrice 4T) and DJI Matrice 30 Thermal (M30T) are tailor-made for such missions. The Matrice 4T, for example, delivers ultra-high-resolution thermal imaging paired with a 112× hybrid zoom, allowing teams to spot tiny clues or distant subjects with unmatched detail. It’s designed for low-light operations with features like a Night Scene mode, near-infrared (NIR) illuminator, and advanced obstacle avoidance – meaning it can safely navigate around trees or cliffs even in darkness. With a remarkable 49-minute flight time and AI-powered real-time people detection, the Matrice 4T excels in SAR missions by quickly scanning terrain and highlighting persons or vehicles of interest.
The DJI Matrice 30T offers a similar blend of portability and performance for SAR teams. This mid-size drone integrates a hybrid camera setup (wide-angle, zoom, and thermal) plus a laser rangefinder, all in a weather-resistant airframe. Rugged and weatherproof (IP54-rated) construction allows the M30T to operate “reliably in the harshest of environments” – whether that’s pouring rain, light snow, or dusty wind. It can fly for up to 41 minutes per sortie and remain stable in strong winds (around 25+ mph), critical for Canada’s variable climates. The M30T’s thermal sensor provides a crisp 640×512 resolution thermal view, enabling accurate body-heat detection and even temperature readings on the ground. Its zoom camera (up to 48 MP) and laser rangefinder allow crews to pinpoint a subject’s exact GPS coordinates from afar. In short, drones like the M30T strike “the perfect balance between portability and performance,” packing high-end sensors into a tough, dust- and water-resistant platform ideal for challenging environments.
Importantly, these drones don’t just locate victims – they also improve situational awareness for rescuers. Both the Matrice 4T and M30T support dual thermal/visual feeds and high zoom, so teams can simultaneously get a broad overview and a close-up confirmation of a find. Many SAR drones can carry speakers and high-intensity spotlights as well. This means once a missing person is found, the drone can project a reassuring message or instructions via loudspeaker and illuminate the area with a spotlight to guide ground teams. These capabilities turn night into day for rescuers – an advantage that can literally be life-saving when every minute counts. As one SAR deputy noted, a drone can cover in “a couple minutes” the same ground that would take an hour on foot, and do so without endangering human searchers on cliffs or rapids. By rapidly combing treacherous terrain from above, thermal drones dramatically increase the odds of finding missing individuals before it’s too late.
Key “search” capabilities of modern SAR drones include:
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Thermal + Optical Zoom Cameras: See human heat signatures through darkness, smoke, or foliage, and zoom in 30–100× for identification. This enables spotting a lost hiker’s body heat or a reflective item of clothing from hundreds of meters away.
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All-Weather Ruggedness: High-end drones are sealed against rain and dust and can fly in wind gusts of ~25–27 mph and sub-freezing temperatures. They stay operational when manned aircraft might be grounded, ensuring searches can continue in foul weather.
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Long Endurance: Flight times of 40–60 minutes per battery let drones cover vast search grids or remain on station to direct rescuers. Swappable battery systems mean they can be relaunched quickly for continuous coverage.
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Intelligent Navigation: Advanced obstacle sensing (e.g. rotating LiDAR and radar) gives drones “terrain-hugging” awareness, so they avoid trees, wires, and cliffs even in fog or darkness. Some drones can even network as relays – one drone can hover high to relay signals to another beyond a mountain, extending the search range into radio dead zones.
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Night Operations: Equipped with thermal cameras, low-light sensors, and high-powered spotlights, SAR drones can operate 24/7. They can spot a person’s warmth and light up an LZ (landing zone) for rescuers, even on a moonless night. Automated features (return-to-home, GPS hold, etc.) add extra safety during these challenging flights.
Airborne Lifelines: Delivering Critical Supplies in Extreme Conditions
Finding the victim is only half the battle in SAR – the other half is rescue and survival. Drones are increasingly used as lifelines to deliver essential supplies to people stranded in places that rescuers can’t quickly reach. When floods wash out roads or an injured hiker is trapped on a ledge, a drone can fly in with food, water, first aid, or communications gear long before ground teams arrive. This capability has proven its worth in real incidents. For instance, in one case a SAR drone dropped a bag of supplies – including a hat, blanket, food, and water – to a lost boy, helping him stay warm until rescuers arrived. Delivering that aid early can mean the difference between life and death, especially in cold weather.
To perform in these roles, heavy-lift drones like the DJI Matrice 400 (M400) and DJI FlyCart 30 are designed to carry substantial payloads and fly in extreme conditions. DJI’s Matrice 400 is the new flagship enterprise drone – essentially a flying workhorse built for versatility in emergency response. The M400 can haul up to 6 kg (13 lbs) of payload (such as medical gear, survival kits, or even a small defibrillator) and stay airborne for nearly an hour. It features a multi-gimbal system that can actually mount several devices at once – for example, a camera, spotlight, speaker, and cargo box simultaneously. Despite its size, the Matrice 400 is engineered for safe flight in tight or hazardous spaces: it uses a 360° spinning LiDAR and mmWave radar to detect even thin obstacles like power lines in its path, plus six fisheye cameras for vision in low light. This advanced sensing allows the M400 to confidently navigate “power-line level” obstacles (as DJI describes) and fly where ordinary drones or helicopters might risk entanglement. In practical terms, an M400 can drop a rescue kit into a narrow mountain ravine or deliver a radio to a lost person deep in a forest, all while automatically avoiding branches and cables in gusty wind or misty weather.
For heavier payload missions, the DJI FlyCart 30 takes things to another level. This industrial drone is essentially a cargo aircraft designed for long-distance, high-payload deliveries. The FlyCart 30 can carry up to 30 kg (66 lbs) of supplies and still fly up to 16 km (10 miles) on a round trip. It’s purpose-built for extremes – capable of operating at altitudes up to 6,000 m (nearly 20,000 ft) above sea level and in temperatures from -20 °C to 45 °C. Despite hauling heavy loads, this drone maintains about 18 minutes of flight endurance with a full 30 kg payload, thanks to its dual-battery power system and efficient propulsion. Crucially for SAR use, the FlyCart 30 is ruggedized to handle foul weather: it has an IP55 ingress protection rating (resistant to dust and rain) and can tolerate winds of about 12 m/s (27 mph) while keeping a stable course. Its built-in safety features include multiple redundant sensors, dual batteries, and even a parachute recovery system to prevent a worst-case crash. In other words, it’s a drone you can trust to carry precious cargo through difficult skies.
Concept illustration of a drone carrying a medical supply package over a mountainous region. Heavy-lift drones like the DJI FlyCart 30 can transport first aid kits, food, or medicines to stranded individuals when roads are impassable. Many systems use remote payload release or winches so they can drop supplies without landing in hazardous terrain.
Another advantage of these delivery drones is their precision and flexibility in dropping cargo. The FlyCart 30, for example, supports both a standard cargo box mode and a winch mode. In winch mode, it can hover 50+ meters above a confined spot (say, a dense forest canopy or a narrow mountain ledge) and gently lower a package by tether, then retract the line – all without needing a clear landing zone. This method greatly reduces risk to the drone and the person being helped. Other payload release systems use parachute drops or remote hooks to ensure the delivery lands exactly where needed without the drone ever touching down. In practice, an SAR team might send a FlyCart to air-drop life vests to flood survivors, a satellite phone to a lost hiker, or insulin to a diabetic stuck in snow, buying critical time until rescue crews arrive. Drones can also shuttle tools and supplies to rescuers in the field (for example, ferrying extra ropes or medical equipment to teams on a mountainside). This not only speeds up rescue operations but keeps rescuers safer by reducing the number of risky trips they must make.
In summary, today’s SAR drones offer a powerful toolbox of capabilities to tackle harsh environments:
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They fly over floods, forests, and cliffs with ease, providing a rapid aerial perspective that guides rescuers through rugged terrain.
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They utilize thermal cameras and sensors to locate people day or night, even when visibility is near zero.
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They are built tough – waterproof, dustproof, and wind-stable – to stay operational in rain, snow, high winds and extreme temperatures.
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They can carry and drop life-saving payloads ranging from a 1 kg med-kit up to 30 kg of supplies, reaching victims who would otherwise be inaccessible.
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They feature long-range communications and smart automation, allowing pilots to cover larger search areas and even coordinate multiple drones for expanded reach.
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Crucially, they do all this fast – deploying in minutes (far quicker than manned aircraft) – and without putting additional personnel in harm’s way.
Drones are transforming SAR operations in Canada and around the world. From finding lost hikers in vast backcountry to air-dropping relief in disaster zones, these unmanned aircraft are proving to be reliable partners for public safety teams. For SAR managers, the message is clear: investing in rugged, capable drones like the Matrice 4T, M30T, M400 or FlyCart 30 means faster searches, safer rescues, and lives saved even under the most challenging conditions. As drone technology continues to advance, rescue teams in harsh environments now have an unprecedented advantage – a set of high-tech wings that can carry hope to those who need it, no matter how hard the journey.
