“Why should I use a drone for surveying?”

Unparalleled data collection times
Excellent positional accuracy
Low operating costs

Drone Surveying?

What is a drone survey?

A drone survey refers to the use of a drone to capture aerial data with downward-facing sensors, such as RGB, Multispectral, or LIDAR payloads. During a drone survey with an RGB camera, the ground is photographed multiple times and each image is tagged with coordinates.

After flight, these photos are processed in photogrammetry software such as PIX4D or Agisoft Metashape. The photogrammetry software can then recreate geo-referenced 3D maps, contour lines, digital terrain models, or digital surface models to be reviewed in geospatial software such as ArcGIS or QGIS.

What makes a drone the best option for aerial imagery?

A drone flies at the ideal cruising speed and altitude for extremely high-resolution imagery. Airplanes and satellites fly too fast and too high, which means they can’t capture the same level of detail. Drones can capture imagery and GPS data at the same time, giving you more information so you can create a more accurate rendering of the area.

How accurate can a drone survey be?

PPK GPS Accuracy

Using the PPK option, our drones can reach down to 0.4in (1 cm) RMS horizontal and 1.1in (3 cm) RMS vertical absolute accuracy. Typically in real world use you’ll see an accuracy better than 1.57in (4 cm) RMS horizontal and 2.3in (6 cm) RMS vertical absolute accuracy. This is the standard for most high quality surveying drones.

Standard GPS Accuracy

Standard GPS accuracy can vary up to 16 ft (5 m). Typically after processing a mosaic the RMS will be anywhere from between 4.6ft (1.4 m) to 9.8ft (3 m). This is the standard on any drone without PPK.

What affects this accuracy?

Quality of Equipment

The camera resolution, the height at which the drone flies, and the method and technology used to geolocate the aerial images can heavily influence the accuracy of drone survey mapping. With high quality surveying equipment such as the Emlid Reach M2 and the high resolution cameras that Event38 drones can carry these issues are a non-factor.

Satellites overhead

The number of satellites overhead and the quality of the signal from those satellites can heavily effect post processing. Event 38 PPK capible drones are equipped with a dual band GPS receiver which receives multiple signals from all satellite constellations ensuring good reception of signal in even the most remote locations.

Scenery of the area being mapped

Mapping an area such as a dense forrest canopy will have the same quality of geotags as mapping an urban environment but post processing software may struggle stitching the imagery together with a lack of distinctive features shared between images.

Event38 PPK Accuracy Accessment

When you invest in a drone, you’re investing in a long-term monitoring tool.

Consistent data for long-term surveying.

Fly the same route over and over to collect data the same way every time.
Capture regular pictures of a construction site.
Monitor erosion or overgrowth that may interfere with infrastructure.
Safely Monitor Remote areas.

Make the investment today.

When you invest in a drone, you’re investing in your companies future. Fly as often as needed to gather the data needed to keep your projects on track.

Learn more about the E400