Is Drone Surveying right for me?

Drone Surveying is completely reinventing the way that Land Surveying is being performed throughout the world. Utilizing a drone for survey projects can produce a better quality product, in less time, and at a lower cost than traditional surveying methods. However, drone surveying is not right for every project, or every business. Below are some of the key questions that will let you know if you can take advantage of Drone Surveying.

Are you a Land Surveyor or Civil Engineer?

The first and most important question to ask when researching drone surveying, is are you already a surveyor or engineer? If you or someone at your company is not already engaged in land surveying in some capacity, then it may be very difficult to begin. Using a drone for surveying is only a part of the land surveying profession. We like to think of the drone as one tool of many in a surveyor’s truck. But a drone by itself is not enough to become a land surveyor.

If you are already engaged in survey work, then drone surveying may be right for you. If not, then we recommend seeing what it takes to become a land surveyor.

What Types of Projects do you typically do?

Drones can be used successfully on most survey projects, however there are a few exceptions. In general, drones work best on projects that are:

  • Between 0-300 acres in size

  • Located outside of dense urban areas

  • Have moderate to low tree cover

Aerotas has helped surveyors on nearly every type of survey, including topographic mapping, ALTA, construction, location, planning, and subdivision surveys.

What are the benefits of using Drones on a survey?

Using a drone for surveying has two main benefits over traditional surveying methods:

  • Get a complete record of the site - Traditional surveying only takes a record of what was measured. Drone-based surveying takes a full 3D model of literally everything that is in view. This allows surveyors to add high-quality imagery and higher detail to their final product, without having to spend more money on a project. Clients will come back more often for higher quality project data, and you will never have to re-visit a site to gather more data.

  • Save time in the field - Depending on the type of survey you need to do, using a drone can save up to 60% of man-hours in the field. Also, because each additional acre of surveying typically takes a trivial amount of time, it can help to fly an entire area at once, so that you have all the data if the end client ever needs it.

Does it sound like Drone Surveying might be right for you? Check out what you need to get started next.