A distributed sensor module system comprises a plurality of sensor modules configured to be aerially deployable from a deployment device, the deployment device including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or an aeronautically deployable unitized container, the plurality of sensor modules configured to communicate with each other. A first sensor module comprises a first sensor configured to obtain first sensor information from a first environment proximate to the first sensor, a processor coupled to the first sensor, the processor configured to process the first sensor information to obtain locally processed first sensor information, and a communication transceiver coupled to the processor, the communication transceiver configured to communicate the locally processed first sensor information to a second sensor module, the first sensor module and the second sensor module configured to be aerially deployable.