The article discusses the fields and methods of application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Current legislation in Russia and in the world, significantly limit the use of UAV in monitoring. For the first time, we present a solution to the problem of a monitoring measurement system included in the state register of measuring instruments using the example of the basic UAV model. We conducted an analysis of promising approaches to the creation of UAV metrological and methodological support, as well as ways to adapt their target load to meet the challenges of operational monitoring of air pollution.