What is Drone Mapping?

Usage of drone in business and industries are very common. One of the most appealing parts of this technology is aerial surveying which is also referred to as drone mapping.

Drone mapping is capturing hundreds of aerial images and then stitching them together digitally with the help of special software to create a larger and more accurate image. 

It’s not too old when aerial photogrammetric maps of high accuracy and resolution can only be done with the help of manned aircraft. But drone technology makes this process much easier and less costly.

Drone Mapping Use Cases by Industry

Land Surveying

Land surveyors required drones for aerial mapping of lands. Drones help them to measure pieces of land to determine boundaries more accurately. They collect data for the creation of maps, plots and legal documentation. Drones technology helps land surveyors capture highly accurate maps with photogrammetry, which can easily turn into 3d topography.

Real Estate

Drones are used in the real estate business for the sale of land. People looking to buy large areas of real estate should do drone mapping to determine whether the land is good for them. People can also check standard satellite images, but one major disadvantage of satellite images is clarity. Drones mapping resolves clarity issues. 

Dronedeploy is the most used software for real estate; with this software, contour lines and accurate borders can be created. 

Inspection by Drone Mapping

Drone Inspection is becoming important day by day in US industries. High-resolution camera drones or infrared technology is used to create an accurate and detailed map of the roof.

The most common example is solar farms, where drones are widely used to inspect solar panels with the help of infrared technology. Drones can easily detect affected panels.

Agriculture

In the coming time, the agriculture industry will be the largest use case overall for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAV. Drones mapping is now crucial for farmers to make data-driven crop decisions. Instead of walking whole crafts, drone mapping can assist farmers more quickly and precisely. Agricultural industry drones are designed to perform specific tasks and are equipped with the latest scanners that create accurate maps.

Construction

The construction industry also gets benefits from drone mapping. Drone maps help clients to be updated regularly. Construction industries use drones to analyze their projects and raw material and even create 3D models of structures. 

Drone mapping helps construction managers to generate the big picture and make decisions accurately.

Keymapping Terminology Of Drone Mapping

Now let’s talk about some technical parts of drone mapping.

• Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry the process of taking measurements from visuals; these visuals are generally taken from the air.

• Orthomosaic

Orthomosaic the process of taking an aerial image and making some changes to it for topographic relief, camera tilt and misrepresentation in the camera optic for the scale of the image to uniform thoroughly

• RGB Camera

These are the most common type of cameras used in the mapping. It takes light from red, blue and green spectrums to create the image.

• Near Infrared

Near Infrared spectrum of electromagnetic radiation roughly below the wavelength of visible light. NIR light reflected off a plant can be a sign of its strength. High-end NIR, multispectral and up-to-date RGB cameras are needed to generate this data.

• Infrared

Infrared is a light with low frequency than NIR. The advantage of IR is that it can detect heat.

• Thermography

Thermography mostly used in industry to detect areas of heat in an object. Thermography demand is growing day by day.

• RTK

RTK also known as real-time kinematic satellite navigation, this technology is used to obtain GPS data. 

• Point Cloud

Point Cloud is a collection of points on an object’s surface. These points are highly useful for creating 3d models of land.

• Resolution

Resolution Determine how detailed the image is. Resolution generally measures in Pixels, so a higher number of pixels means a higher resolution.

• Relative accuracy

Relative accuracy in mapping relative accuracy means how accurate a point on a map is to another point on the same map.

• Absolute Accuracy

Absolute Accuracy accuracy of points relates to coordination in the real world.

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