What is the best entry level drone for surveying?

Designed for surveyors, the Phantom 4 RTK is equipped with a 1-inch 20 megapixel CMOS camera that provides clear and detailed images. The DJI Phantom 4 RTK is still the best general topography drone on the market right now. The camera is of high quality, the RTK capability allows for very high accuracy and is very reliable and easy to use. Since DJI launched the Phantom 4 RTK, advances in RTK and PPK processing have further improved the overall value of this system by allowing larger projects with greater precision and less ground control than ever before.

The main advantage of the Phantom 4 RTK, compared to the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, is that you'll need to shoot far fewer control points on the ground to achieve a vertical accuracy of 0.1". Fewer ground control points translate into significant time savings in the field. As before, where the Phantom 4 RTK outperforms the competition is in its reliability and ease of use. While it is considerably more expensive than drones that are not compatible with RTK, its cost is a fraction of what you could spend on other RTK topography drones.

The fantastic overall balance of precision, reliability and value wins our first choice as the best drone for land surveying. The DJI M210 RTK V2 was once the best high-end commercial photogrammetry drone, but the M300 RTK has surpassed it because DJI released the Zenmuse P1 image sensor. The M210 RTK V2 is still a large aircraft with interchangeable payloads and fully capable of collecting topographic data when combined with the X7 sensor and a 24 mm objective. However, the M300 RTK is simply better in all areas.

When it comes to mapping with drones, the Yuneec H520 is an excellent choice. This drone is stable and has a high-quality camera. It's also easy to fly, making it a good choice for mapping applications. With fixed-wing flight and robust payloads, the WingtraOne excels in topographic studies and offers unparalleled precision and efficiency.

This drone isn't the most versatile, since it can't map structures while it's floating, but for those who focus on topographic studies, the WingtraOne is the best solution. Photogrammetric mapping with drones is a process of creating maps and 3D models from aerial images captured by drones. The drone also has a fairly significant weight (the best drones for mapping) of 899 g, which was to be expected given its size. Drones not only facilitate topography work, but they can also produce more accurate data and models.

These qualities prioritize both the quality of the data that drones can collect and the ease with which they can be used for large scale aerial surveys. The reason this drone is great for mapping is because it's one of the few drones that has a mechanical shutter. If you are dedicated to drone mapping professionally, you should prioritize a drone that has a mechanical shutter. The drone also includes a fieldwork report for the verification of data quality and is compatible with topographic mapping, natural resource management and AEC and topography applications.

The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is the best non-RTK drone for creating topographic and planimetric studies. Each type of drone has its own advantages and limitations, so it's important to weigh the specific requirements of the project and choose the type of drone that best fits those needs. With this option activated, the drone can move more precisely by using real-time kinematic GPS instead of the low-precision GPS used by other drones. In recent years, drone manufacturers have addressed this problem by integrating RTK technology into cartographic drones.

As a certified and CAA-specific UAS pilot, James offers professional topography, inspection and media services with drones using a drone...