Aerial drones are becoming more popular in the survey industry every year. Drones are powerful and can bring great commercial benefits due to their efficiency and speed. UAVs allow us to quickly capture data and send it back to our clients. This allows us to conduct drone surveys. Continue reading to learn more about drone surveys.
What is a drone survey?
Drone surveying is an efficient and cost-effective way to map from the air. We can provide imagery or point cloud data from which we can extract many deliverables. UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), surveys, or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), are all terms used to describe drone surveys. However, regardless of the terminology you use, they are very similar and extremely useful. The drone can be used to survey a site for planning, ongoing monitoring, maintenance, or mapping.
Any topographical survey has many key benefits, but drone surveys offer unique advantages that are superior to traditional methods. These can make a difference in the success or failure of your next project. This section explains why drone surveys are so valuable across all industries.
A drone or UAV survey has the main benefits
Drone surveying has many advantages. Drone surveying can be safer and more cost-effective than traditional manual methods. Drones can inspect and survey areas of land and buildings with the same accuracy as traditional methods but in a shorter timeframe. These drones are ideal for conducting topographical surveys of any kind. Let’s now look at some of the main benefits of drone surveys.
Reduce time & cut costs
Clients who want to finish projects on schedule and within budget are likely to consider this one of the greatest benefits. Drones can capture data five times faster than land-based methods. A commercial-grade drone’s software can autonomously control the device. This allows for faster data collection over large areas. A land surveyor will find that drones require less manpower, which can reduce overhead costs.
Access to Unreachable Areas
Surveyors can now access areas previously thought inaccessible using drones. It could be an area that is difficult to access by foot or vehicle, or a part of a building that cannot easily be reached by humans. Rooftops, utilities, and the undersides of bridges or railways are just a few examples of structures that can easily be surveyed using drones.
Drone surveying can be done on a few areas, such as dense forests and quarries. These areas are difficult to survey using traditional methods. Drones can be used to survey difficult areas because they fly overhead.
Drone surveys are highly accurate
Advanced drones can capture a variety of HD images from different angles at high quality. Software advancements have allowed us to combine the images and create 3D terrain models. Merrett Surveys’ drone surveyors can then take into account a variety of data deliverables such as 3D BIM models and point cloud data, and orthophoto mosaics. We will now examine some data deliverables related to drone surveying. Drone methods offer a wide range of high-tech options that go beyond traditional land survey methods.
How do drone surveys present and collect data?
From the beginning of the project, we work closely with clients to ensure they get the most important data. We can also offer data types they may not have considered. We offer many data types to clients when it comes drone surveys:
Building Information Modelling (BIM Models – Drones can be used in combination with photogrammetry software to create a 3D visual representation for the land or buildings being surveyed. These data are crucial for achieving project objectives during the entire lifecycle.
Digital Terrain Models (DTM), – Once any objects needing to be filtered, such as buildings, have been removed, drone images can be used to create precise DTMs.
Orthomosaic Maps- We can provide detailed and high-definition orthomosaic maps. The orthophotos (smaller photos) are combined to create large, high-resolution and map-quality imagery of the area. You can also include measurements such as surface and horizontal distances.
3D Point Cloud Data- From UAV or drone images, dense point clouds can be created that provide detailed geospatial data. These point clouds can be used to create highly accurate models of distance, area, and volume, as well as 3D visualizations.
Contour lines – A DTM can map contour lines. These contour lines allow for a better understanding of the areas captured by drones.
Inspection work – Engineers can remotely access structures like transmission line towers, communication Towers, bridges or chimneys to obtain detailed imagery that allows them to evaluate the asset’s condition.
Topographical surveying is not an exception. It is crucial that every industry adopts and implements new technology. Recent years have seen the importance of new technology for companies that are recovering from Covid-19.
The Down Side
As you can see, there are many advantages to drone surveying. However, we also need to point out some drawbacks. These points will be ignored by many companies, as well as amateur drone pilots not being trained to be surveyors. We are professional land surveyors who have been trained to conduct drone surveys and we always give our clients honest advice.
Drone Surveys: The downsides
Drone imagery will not allow you to see or map the ground beneath dense foliage and longgrass. You can map the true terrain using a Lidar instrument attached to the drone.
You can achieve high accuracy, but it is not possible without ground control (surveyed by a qualified surveyor), and a high-quality camera with’real-time’ GPS. Vertical accuracy can be approximated at approximately 3x the pixel size. Access permissions to fly will not be granted in all areas.
The drone must be within 500m of the drone pilot. Although it is possible to fly farther than visual line of sight (BVLOS), this distance is still limited by CAA regulations. This is a rapidly evolving technology.
