Energy Efficiency UAV: Aerodynamics, Temperature and Their Impact on Crops and Power Line Surveying

This study analyzes the energy consumption of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under the influence of external environmental factors, including ambient temperature, wind speed, and turbulence, as well as their effect on battery performance and flight endurance. The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of UAV energy efficiency under different climatic and operational conditions relevant to agricultural and infrastructure-monitoring missions. The results show that external factors substantially affect both UAV power demand and operating time. In particular, wind and turbulence increase energy consumption because of additional aerodynamic drag and the need for repeated stabilization efforts. The proposed framework integrates aerodynamic, thermal, and battery-related factors into a unified energy-consumption model and introduces empirical correction coefficients to improve the applicability of the calculations under different operating conditions. The study also discusses practical approaches to energy-aware mission planning, including route-level considerations and adaptation of flight parameters to environmental conditions. The obtained results indicate that UAV energy efficiency should be assessed not only from nominal battery parameters, but also with account for environmental loading and mission geometry. The proposed framework is relevant for both agricultural and rural infrastructure applications and may support comparative endurance estimation, preliminary route planning, and further development of UAV energy-assessment methods for operation in challenging climatic and operational environments.