LiDAR DRONES FOR TOPOGRAPHIC MAPPING

Before the development of computer technology in the 20th century, which changed the process, making topographic maps may be a difficult undertaking. The painstaking procedure of measuring a succession of locations, using tape and compass traverses, and calculating elevation using an aneroid barometer was finished before topographic maps could be hand-drawn on paper and ink on location.

Global positioning system (GPS) technology is being used by surveyors to take exact measurements in the field with their hands on the ground. Man-made aircraft are utilized in certain circumstances and places. Either small aircraft or helicopters are used for this. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS/drones), which can cover a considerably bigger area with little work and training, are another option for surveying land.

LiDAR drones collect extremely dense data. A traditional land surveyor will shoot a point, walk a few feet take another shot and so on…… This is how it’s been done for years. Unfortunately, this type of fieldwork is extremely time-consuming, tedious and at times can be dangerous.

Skyvue’s drones shoot over 640,000 points per second and we gather well over 250 points per square meter. Can you imagine shooting 250 points per square meter over the span of 100 acres by hand? This can take a crew of surveyor’s weeks to gather.  LiDAR data can get those results in 1 hour! LiDAR penetrates thick vegetation to the ground, so we are extracting the actual topography of the ground. 

After we fly, we have to process the data and usually we can have the back to the client in 7 days in whatever formant you would like.  We can deliver contours at whatever increment you would like all the way down to .5’