Can RFID Track Items from the Air?

I own a drone company and would like to be able to track materials on the ground from a distance of 60 meters. Is this possible?

—Tom

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Tom,

Active RFID tags (those with a power source enabling them to broadcast a signal) can typically be read from 100 meters (328 feet) away or more, so you could read tags from a distance of 60 meters (197 feet). However, I am unsure whether this would meet your definition of “tracking” the materials. If you have 100 items on the ground spread over hundreds of meters, reading them from the air would tell you only that the items were within a general area. You would not be able to pinpoint one item’s specific location versus that of another.

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal