UAV – Aerial survey and Geomatics engineering

drone geomatics uav - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineeringThe aerial survey made by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) consists of  the acquisition of several geographic data combined with aerial images which are grouped in geomatics.

The data collected by our Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) during the aerial surveys for geomatics are:

  • Aerial high definition images
  • Information related to remote sensing and telemetry
  • Measurements related to the visible and invisible wavelengths analysis of the electromagnetic spectrum such as infrared, gamma and ultraviolet radiation
  • Geophysical data
  • Multi-echo laser scanning with LiDAR systems

All the data gathered during the aerial surveys are then processed and stored in geographic information systems (GIS).

 

drone rtk gps ground station topography - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineering

 

Prior the development of scientific use of civilian UAVs, the GIS specialists only had at their disposal images collected by satellites or pictures taken by manned aircrafts whose implementation involved sizable costs and effort.

The great advantages of geospatial data collected by drone, compared to the satellites or manned aircrafts, are:

  • their low cost
  • the ease and speed of implementation
  • their high availability
  • the quality of the images definition
  • their versatility
  • the fact that they operate under the clouds cover which, for some aereas of the world, is impossible to achieve by satellites

drone topography - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineeringGeomatics information collected during drone aerial surveys is used in topography, cartography, geodesy, geography, hydrography and many other areas related to these sciences.

Equipped with RTK (Real Time Kinetics) positioning systems, our drones are designed to allow a high accuracy navigation by implementing GPS L1 – RTK receivers based on GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and systems like EGNOS & SBAS (satellite-based augmentation system).

Our drones carry different types of sensors to acquire the data needed for highly accurate geomatics: digital cameras for photogrammetry, LiDAR, infrared and thermal cameras, hyperspectral or multispectral, or 3D cameras. These precision sensors can be combined to form modular or integrated embedded aerial survey systems.

 

drone geomatics topography geodesie forrestry1 - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineering

 

Case study of a system used for topography:

  • Drone: OnyxStar FOX-C8 HD
  • Sony Alpha 7 R camera
    • Minimum area coverage in one flight: 1,058 km²
    • Flying time: 30 minutes
    • Flying height: 100 m
    • Overlapping X & Y: 40%
    • Number of pictures taken: 100
    • Speed: 7 m/s

 

 

  • Ground Sample Distance calculation:

     

    GSD
    (cm/pixel)
    Height
    (meters)
    6.09 250
    4.90 200
    3.66 150
    2.44 100
    2.22 50
    0.98 40
    0.61 25

drone rtk survey geomatics uav - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineering

drone rtk survey geomatics uav2 - UAV - Aerial survey and Geomatics engineering