| Summary: | The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an important tool for acquiring digital images of the surface and collecting samples. Recently, it has been becoming an emerging research tool in sedimentology, changing the paradigm of sedimentology.However, UAV-based sedimentological research in China is still in its infancy. This paper reviews the recently important applications of UAVs in sedimentology, discusses critical technical backgrounds and existing problems involved, and summarizes as well as prospects for future applications of UAVs in sedimentology to provide references for subsequent research.Software and hardware requirements for applications of UAVs in sedimentology and typical case studies are reviewed from three aspects: 3D digital reconstruction of sedimentary outcrops, extraction of high-resolution sedimentary textures and structure features, and UAV-assisted sample collection. The use of UAV photogrammetry to construct digital outcrop models facilitates the observation of geometry, sedimentary facies, and facies associations for sedimentary outcrops from multiple spatial scales and perspectives. Combined with professional software for digital outcrop model interpretations, it allows for remote and efficient extractions of sedimentary textures and structure features such as grain size, cross-bedding, and bioglyph on large spatial scales. UAV-based digital outcrop models can also be applied to field practice teaching in sedimentology in the future. Also, UAVs can be modified to assist in collecting sediment samples like ice cores. The application of the UAV technology in sedimentological research has the advantages of low cost and high efficiency, ensuring the timeliness and continuity of data, and increasing safety in fieldwork. However, UAV technology also has disadvantages in data repeatability, point cloud processing, and image or model quality. Further improvements can be made in the future with the help of artificial intelligence and by developing standard specifications for UAV image acquisition and processing flow.
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