Drone Surveys
Aerial Surveys for the 21st Century
Drone Surveys have fast become the best way to assess subjects in recent years. The comparative low cost of drones compared to manned aircraft make them ideal platforms. Their stabilised, high resolution camera systems means that quality imagery is now within the budget of practically everyone in need of aerial imagery.
Types of Drone Survey
The combination of a small remote controlled flying platform and state of the art cameras creates a huge range of opportunities for aerial surveillance with drones.
Environmental Monitoring- Drone Surveys
Drone Surveys are extremely useful in locating and counting elusive wildlife species. We have worked on many projects tracking Manta Rays, Dugongs, Cetaceans, Seals, Sharks and Sea Birds. This example video was instrumental in proving that there was a population of Dugong frequenting an area of mangroves. The area was scheduled for sand dredging and that would have been disastrous for the Dugong. The GPS referenced footage from the drone was evidence that the area is important for this population and the dredging was cancelled. The footage also enabled a much more accurate population study to be undertaken of this critically endangered species.
Traffic Surveys using Drones
Being able to count the number of vehicles over a wide area, over a wide duration of time is easily possible using drone technology. The high resolution gimbal stabilised camera combined with a flying platform that can stay in the air for 30-40 minutes per battery and can be doubled with overlapping aircraft to provide continuous surveillance of road and traffic situations.
Car Park surveys can also be done efficiently using a drone to discover what areas are used most and during which periods of the day.
Building Site Aerial Surveys
Are you a building site contractor that needs a large scale overview of your site development? Drones can provide a birds eye view of large scale developments and highlight progress over time by repeating specific flight paths and locations time after time. It is possible to assess volumes of assets as well as spot any potential issues from this aerial perspective using analytical software.
Vegetation Mapping Surveys
Due to their ability to create orthomosaic maps of land, drones are used to map vegetation. It is possible to identify different species of plants and to accurately calculate an area covered by different types of vegetation. The example photo was a survey of farmland afflicted by an invasive vine, smothering the crops.
Forestry is also benefitted by drone surveys. Species ID and canopy health as well as fast identification of tree fall and storm damage.
See also our drone mapping services if large areas of land need to be imaged.
CAA Certified for legal compliance and safety.
Our qualified pilots operate under the Civil Aviation Authority Flight Operations Guidelines for Drones. All flights and operations are insured and follow UK law. We use a combination of different drones to ensure both compliance and operation effectiveness.