How to begin drone surveys and the benefits?

What does drone survey mean?

A drone survey is the use of a drone (or unmanned aerial vehicle) to capture aerial data using downward-facing sensors such as RGB cameras or multispectral cameras and LIDAR payloads. A drone survey using an RGB camera takes multiple photographs of the ground from different angles and tags each one with coordinates. HeliDrone surveys has provided aerial UAV surveys of high quality for many UK businesses since 2014. Drone survey company London can help reach all those locations that are difficult to reach using conventional methods.

What are the advantages of using drones for surveying?

Field time and survey costs can be reduced

A drone can capture topographic data up to five times faster that land-based methods, and it requires significantly less manpower. PPK geotagging saves time as you don’t have to place multiple GCPs. Your survey results will be delivered faster and for a lower price.

Give complete and accurate data

The total stations measure only individual points. A single drone flight can produce thousands of measurements. These measurements can be represented in many formats, including contour lines, DTM and DSM, orthomosaic, point clouds, DTM and DSM, contour lines and DTM. Every pixel on the 3D model produced contains 3D geo-data.

Locate inaccessible areas

A drone that can fly aerially can take off from almost any location. Unreachable terrain, steep slopes and harsh terrain are no more obstacles. It doesn’t matter if you close down roads or tracks. You can actually capture data in operation without any organizational overhead.

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What is the purpose of drones in surveying?

Cartography / Land surveying

Survey drones can create high-resolution orthomosaics as well as detailed 3D models of areas that have no or low-quality data. These drones allow for high-accuracy cadastral maps that can be quickly produced even in difficult or complex environments. Surveyors are also able to extract features from images such as curbs, curbs and fire hydrants.

These same images can be used to create very detailed elevation models, contour lines, and breaklines. They can also be used for 3D reconstructions of buildings or land sites.

Development and land management

Drone images of topography can be used to speed up and simplify land management and planning. This is true for site scouting and allotment design as well as the final construction of roads and buildings.

Volumetric measurements of stockpiles

It is possible to also obtain volumetric measurements using the same images with 3D mapping software. This method is especially useful for calculating stocks in quarries and mines for inventory or monitoring purposes.

Surveyors can take more topographic data points with a drone and get more precise volume measurements. This is also safer than manually capturing the data from a stockpile. Because drones capture the data from above it won’t disrupt operations on-site. Because of the short acquisition time, it is possible to capture a snapshot of a site at a particular point in time.

Monitoring of slope

Automated GIS analysis can be used to extract slope measurements from DTMs or DSMs created by drone imagery. The slope of the ground can be determined and classified for slope monitoring, prevention and mitigation.

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It is possible to detect changes and measure velocity of the earth by using orthomosaics that are taken at different times. These data can be used to predict landslides, and help prevent damage to roads and railways.