4 July 2017

UAVs : a judicious solution for land surveying, LiDAR and imagery

Infinite JIB Surveyor 630 UAV

UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) continues to be integrated to land surveying and more broadly to the acquisition of geospatial data. This technology is changing quickly and the applications for UAVs in these fields are better identified and controlled.

A drone, with an integrated system for imagery and/or LiDAR (both can be combined in one system) can be used to carry out 3D digital models, volumetric calculation, orthomosaics, for example. However, its key point is being able to capture georeferenced images at high resolution and LiDAR surveys at high point density. This data contains a lot of valuable information and it will be used to offer a better description for the current state. It is also very relevant to properly analyse the progress for a site, or for a technical or land survey. Thanks to this data full of georeferenced information, images or point clouds, documentation of any relevant element for realty analysis becomes now possible.

To sum up, the quick expansion of UAV technology enables an easy data collection anytime during a project. In civil engineering, municipal or environmental, a drone offers plenty of applications relevant in numerous fields requiring land surveying.

GÉOLOCATION – ARPENTAGE PARLECIEL INC.

Géolocation offers services of data collection with UAV and data processing, mostly in Estern Canada with its partner Arpentage Parleciel inc. Indeed, we are using UAVs for land surveying and geomatics since 2014. Our favourite equipment is the Surveyor 630 Infinite Jib UAV with its rotating wings, because it can carry loads up to 4 kg. Its wind resistance reaches 60-80 km/h, its maximum speed in flight is 72 km/h and its maximum autonomy is 25 minutes.

Why should you better consider a drone with rotating wings instead of fixed? Below is a list of advantages :

The ideal required space for take-off and landing is almost similar to the UAV’s dimensions, 122 cm, whereas the drone with fixed wings can require a free area of 50cmx30cm.
Its handling and its hability to do sharp turns make it able to approach much closer objects and restricted areas, like buildings and roads. This is a key advantage because these areas are very often requested during a survey.
The flight performances allow for products with a higher accuracy. Indeed, the better wind resistance enables a better stability on-flight compared to a drone with fixed winds under the same weather conditions.

Well before the UAVs, the expertise of Géolocation in photogrammetry and LiDAR was strongly established as well as its skills for a variety of tools and softwares for processing, analysis, stereo-restitution, 3D modeling, to export the most relevant information, whatever the acquisition platform. Our offer of UAVs services becomes then natural and allow us to provide the best quality of products in the Province of Québec.

REGULATION

Thanks to our partner’s flawless safety roadmap, this has resulted in the issuance of a most permissive Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) from Transport Canada. Indeed, our current SFOC allows us to fly up to 30 meters from homes and near airports without any delay.

CONCLUSION

Finally, case studies have shown that for some mandates, saving up to 50% can be considered by using drones rather than conventional surveys. Their use thus limits the intervention on the field to a few hours versus several days depending on the scope of the project. Moreover, obtaining more complete data and geo-referenced images avoid the returns to the field while providing a much more informative inventory.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further information related to your needs and project.