Drone usage is on the rise across multiple industries. From a survey standpoint, drone technology offers a safer, more efficient way to collect large quantities of data. So, let’s say you have an area you want to survey. You can just jump right into the flight, right? Wrong! Once you have something to survey, there are several steps you must take if you want to have a successful and safe drone flight.
1. Determine if the area is within restricted airspace. Restricted airspace surrounds some airports, national parks, and other protected areas. Before you fly, it is crucial to check that your proposed flight is not going to get you into trouble.
2. Lay out your flight path. Once you’ve determined you can fly at all in an area, you must then determine the height at which you can safely fly. The height of your flight will directly influence the accuracy of the model you can ultimately create from the data, so try to fly as low as is safely possible.
3. Don’t forget ground control. To enhance accuracy and reduce the chance for human error drone flight is largely automated. Height, flight pattern, overlap percentage, and camera angle are all controlled by a flight app. Surveyors must set ground control points using GPS so that your flight path is on the correct coordinate system and accurately tied to the real world.
4. Create a digital terrain model. Once you have collected the data, you can create a three-dimensional mesh file to create and convert to a digital terrain model. This model can then be used for design. And because of the increased data collected with drones, you can more easily create accurate designs.
As our industry evolves and new technologies seemingly emerge overnight, the possibilities are undoubtedly exciting. However, as drones allow us to take to the skies, it is important to remain grounded. Understanding rules around safety and regulations will allow us to get the most benefit out of this new technology.