Zipline's aircraft tend to fly the same trajectories over and over again, whatever's lowest energy, fastest, or avoids flying over populated areas unnecessarily. The vehicle isn't really designed to fly repeated grid patterns. We're also hesitant to intentionally collect aerial photography. It isn't necessary for our core business of efficiently delivering medical supplies, and could negatively impact the perceived utility of our system.

You should check out Saildrone. They make autonomous boats for collecting ocean science. https://www.saildrone.com/