Logan Campbell
The DJI L3 Lidar System for Surveyors - A ...

On November 4th, 2025, DJI announced the latest upgrade in their aerial lidar sensors, the Zenmuse L3.  But will it be a good sensor for surveyors?  And should US surveyors even consider investing in a DJI product given all of the regulatory uncertainties in the world right now?  Let’s dive into the details to find out. 

The DJI L3 Lidar System for Surveyors - A Technical Deep Dive
Hope Narish
The Uncomfortable Truth About DJI Drones

Here is the uncomfortable truth: no true peer competitor exists today. Dollar for dollar, DJI remains the best overall platform for most commercial applications. There is no close second. This post explains why, how to think about the current regulatory environment, and what that means for surveyors, civil engineers, or really anyone who cares about safety, turnaround time, and profit.

The Uncomfortable Truth About DJI Drones
Hope Narish
Aerotas ATK: Pushing the Boundaries of Advanced ...
Hope Narish
[Webinar] Mastering Aerial Lidar in Land ...
Hope Narish
[Webinar] Mastering Aerial Lidar in Land ...

From Drone to Linework - UCLS 2019

On February 22, 2019, Aerotas Founder and CEO, Logan Campbell, spoke at the Utah Council of Land Surveyors Summit (UCLS 2019). The presentation is titled “From Drone to Linework”, and covers the workflow requirements to get from flying a drone, to survey-grade linework files. This includes the following topics:

  • Photogrammetry Processing

  • Airborne RTK / PPK GNSS Processing

  • Measuring & Reporting Accuracy

  • Drafting Linework

  • Finishing in CAD

  • Creating a Complete Workflow

The video is embedded below, and the materials referenced in the video can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

,

Aerotas Flight Operations

,
Aerotas Flight Operations

When you use Aerotas to process your drone data, you immediately get access to our Flight Ops team. The sole responsibility of Flight Ops is to guide your mission planning and data collection process. This will ensure that you are successfully planning missions, setting UAS-specific ground control, and getting the most accurate results possible from your drone-collected data.

POB Guest Column: Hard-Learned Lessons in Drone Photogrammetry

POB Guest Column: Hard-Learned Lessons in Drone Photogrammetry

We have processed thousands of drone survey projects for our customers, and we have learned the hard way why photogrammetry is a Ph.D. level science. We have banged our heads against every wall there is, and learned some valuable lessons that we now apply to every project we complete for our customers.

The DJI Phantom 4 RTK for Land Surveyors

The DJI Phantom 4 RTK for Land Surveyors

Airborne RTK for land surveyors has been a technology with an enormous amount of promise for quite a few years now, but was being held back by extremely expensive, complicated, and unreliable technology.  However, with the recent announcement of the DJI Phantom 4 RTK, it seems as if this is about to change. Overall, the Phantom 4 RTK is a great piece of technology that will improve both accuracy and efficiency for most surveyors, but it is not a magic bullet.  Good operations are required both in the field and in post-processing the data.

Guest Post: What Do FAA Part 107 Numbers Tell Us About How Drones Are Being Used by Surveyors?

Guest Post: What Do FAA Part 107 Numbers Tell Us About How Drones Are Being Used by Surveyors?

Aerotas regularly provides thought leadership for Commercial UAV News from the perspective of the land survey industry. In this post, Executive Editor for Commercial UAV News, Jeremiah Karpowicz, offers his perspective about how land surveying stacks up in the drone industry.

POB Column: It Matters Who Processes Your Drone Data

POB Column: It Matters Who Processes Your Drone Data

When the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) launched their Certified Mapping Scientist-UAS certification, Aerotas Founder Logan Campbell was among the first people to sit for the test. The intensive experience of studying, preparing, and taking the strenuous exam highlighted how challenging a verifiable understanding of photogrammetry is. However, the real-world experiences that Logan and the Aerotas team have with processing drone data for surveyors reveal the importance of this understanding in the real world.