Distribution Shift Detection in Remote Sensing Imagery using Machine Learning Models

Remote sensing imagery acquired by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) supports wide range of applications; however, deploying machine learning (ML) models on resource-constrained aerial platforms introduces challenges beyond predictive accuracy, particularly when deployment data differ from the distributions observed during training. Such shifts are common in remote sensing due to geographic, sensor, seasonal, and other visual variations. A practical solution is to equip deployed models with mechanisms that detect emerging distribution shifts and support subsequent responsive actions. This paper presents an empirical case study of three open-source detection tools: (i) Alibi-Detect; (ii) NannyML; and (iii) PyTorch-OOD. Using cross-dataset remote-sensing shifts, we evaluate both detection effectiveness and computational latency of these tools. Our results reveal differences in detection behavior and processing cost across methods and implementations, highlighting trade-offs between detection capability and response-time. These findings motivate further work toward lightweight, and latency-aware monitoring mechanisms for resource-constrained systems.