Types of Drones Used for Surveying

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly popular for topography due to their affordability, safety, and ability to provide high-quality results. To understand the advantages of using a drone for your land surveying project, it is important to understand the different types of aerial vehicles.

Drone topography

is an aerial study conducted with drones and specialized cameras to capture data from downward-facing sensors. Surveyors and engineers often use it in construction to map and assess terrain. The process begins with the pilot slowly pressing the control accelerator, causing the propellers to turn, and then pushing the accelerator further until the drone lifts off vertically from the ground.

The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is the best non-RTK drone for creating topographic and planimetric studies. A drone survey refers to the use of a UAV to capture data with downward-facing sensors, such as RGB or multispectral cameras and LIDAR loads. Drone surveys help urban planners quickly gather updated data from complex urban areas with fewer personnel to study existing social and environmental conditions of sites. During this step, the operator ensures that no one approaches the drone during takeoff or landing and that weather conditions remain optimal for the mission. Reconnaissance drones generate high-resolution orthomosaics and detailed 3D models of areas where low-quality or outdated data is available. To perform highly accurate drone inspections, it is necessary to precisely locate the position of a drone in flight.

It is important to land multi-rotor drones carefully and safely to avoid any damage or harm to the drone itself or to the surrounding area. The process of landing a multi-rotor drone includes using the accelerator to make the drone float approximately one foot above the ground and then slowly reducing the accelerator when you're ready to land vertically. Fixed-wing drones fly long distances and are therefore ideal for precise, long-range aerial cartography for topographic purposes and photogrammetric topography. These drones are commonly found at construction sites and mines in Australia today. Before launching, make sure that the drone's battery and connected devices, such as tablets, are fully charged and that the memory card in the camera has enough empty space to capture the entire project. Often referred to as RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft system), fixed-wing drones are unmanned aircraft with fixed wings that cannot hover in one place, making it difficult to launch them into the sky.

To ensure a safe landing, it is important to reduce the accelerator slowly when you're ready to land vertically.