Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS, or drone) technology has become an indispensable survey tool. From more accurate data to better project management, here are 6 ways drones are changing the survey game.
Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy
Drone Utility Survey
Whether collecting photogrammetric or lidar data, drone survey maps everything visible from the air in 3D. This information can then be used to generate planimetric and topographic survey linework. No more worrying about missed inlets, light poles, utility lines, or the need to remobilize a field crew to collect additional and/or missed data.
Renewable Energy Mapping
Smaller crew = dollars saved
Drone survey reduces and, in some cases, eliminates the need to send traditional ground survey crews to your project site. This increase in efficiency, and decrease in necessary manpower, will help keep your project budget-friendly.
Business Park Progress
Business Park Completion
Speaking of efficiency...
Completing a drone survey early on in your project planning process allows your team to focus more tedious ground efforts on only the most important and/or obscured portions of the site (again, saving time and money).
Construction Inspection
A typical multirotor drone can cover 75+ acres in a 20-minute flight, while larger fixed-wing drones can map over 1,000 acres of land in less than an hour. Data processing (to provide an aerial orthophoto and topographic data) can often be completed in less than 24 hours.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Incorporating a drone flight into your survey efforts will provide an updated, high-resolution aerial orthophoto as a backdrop to your traditional survey deliverable (with far more detail than black and white annotated linework).
Corporate Campus Aerial
Construction Inspection
Versatile data
Data collected from drone survey flights can be used for more than just survey purposes. This valuable information can assist with pavement and roof inspections, site condition analysis, construction progress documentation, flooding, erosion, and more.
WWTP Aerial
WWTP Aerial
Better project management
Drone survey deliverables paint a more complete picture of your site and your project. More information and data = better project management = more successful outcomes. Drone survey can also help you make decisions in real time. For example, if there’s a major rain event, drone footage will help you focus your efforts more quickly while dealing with pooling and runoff. Again, this information can save you time, energy, and money.
Lakeshore Aerial
The Village of Thiensville on drone survey:
“R/M’s drone services have been a great asset to the Village. The ability to get current aerials and topographic data of any site, and integrate it into our GIS system, project documents, and grant applications on short notice, has added value and efficiency to so many aspects of our municipal planning and project work. The field time required for the drone flights is so quick and efficient that on the same visit the Village also has the R/M team capture marketing photos of the site to use in public information meetings and our website. The potential applications of this new technology are seemingly limitless.”
Village of Thiensville
Village of Thiensville
Village of Thiensville
Learn More
To learn how drone survey can make a difference in your next project, contact one of our experts today.
We also encourage you and your team to join us for our upcoming webinar:
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
About the Author
Daniel J. Schwartz, P.E.
Dan has over five years of experience and a diverse range of skills including civil site design, land surveying, and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) surveying/mapping. He is focused on developing new workflows utilizing UAS technology to add efficiency and value to complex projects, and he has overseen and/or conducted over 600 UAS operations (200 flight hours) across the country.
