UAV Mapping Service

CONSIDERATIONS

• You must use a Drone Deploy compatible UAV - e.g. DJI Mavic, Phantom, etc.

• You or other parties under your direction will fly the UAV over the site you want to be mapped. Whoever is operating the UAV must be proficient in flying a UAV and abide by any regulations that govern the use of UAVs in your area.

• We can generate the flight plan for you but you should always use your own discretion whilst on site, especially when it comes to setting up the flight altitude in order to avoid collision with any objects (e.g. trees, buildings, powerlines, etc.). Alternatively, you can create your own flight plan and just send us the images for processing.

• You must send your images to us via a Google Drive folder with editable permissions.

• The highest altitude a UAV can fly in most jurisdictions is 120 m.

• Fly service — Travel and accommodation costs are not included in the price of the Fly service but are instead subject to quotation. The general flight maximum time per day is 5 hours, - between 1000 AM & 1500 PM. The time between and after flight time is spend plotting GCPs and processing flight data.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• How long will it take?
  Most of our analytics-related work takes no more than a couple of hours. Highly complex tasks, however, may take up to 1 business day or more.

• When can you start?
  Typically the same day, but it is best that you contact us as soon as possible because we are typically booked far in advance.

• What data can you work with?
  We can work with any type of data and format. Similarly, we can export or convert data to any format.

• What data is required from me?
  For our Standard and Precision services, you only have to send us a .kmz with an outline of the area of interest so that we can generate a flight plan for you. After you fly the UAV in accordance with our plan, you have to send us also the photos via Google Drive so that we can process them for you. For our Geospatial service the data you have to supply us with depends on what outputs you are interested in.

• What maps can you produce?
  Our service is not limited to the types of maps listed in the services table above. We can produce virtually any type of map, so long as we are supplied with the appropriate data.

• Can I bundle multiple sites together?
  Yes, provided that: (1) the sites are part of the same property and in close proximity to each other; (2) the total number of images does not exceed 3000; (3) GCPs (if any) for all sites can be used as part of the same processing. If any of these 3 conditions are not met, we will typically not be able to bundle sites together into one processing.  

• Can you teach me to operate a UAV?
  No. It is entirely your responsibility to know and abide by your local regulations and to understand how to safely operate a UAV.

• Where can I find learning resources on UAV mapping?
  We suggest visiting Drone Deploy‘s video, resources and support page for in-depth coverage of most of what you have to know to safely and successfully operate UAVs for mapping purposes.

• What is the accuracy of your output?
  In the case of the Standard service, the horizontal and vertical accuracy of the output depends entirely on your UAV’s internal global positioning system. Unless you are running a UAV equipped with a highly accurate positioning system (e.g. Phantom RTK, SenseFly, etc.), you can typically expect some 1-10 meters of deviation. You can greatly reduce the margin of error via the use of Ground Control Points, in which case you would have to contract our Precision service (see below).

• What is the quality of your output?
  The quality of the mapping output is directly tied to the quality of your drone hardware and the efficacy of your flight. If your photos are blurry, over or underexposed, discoloured, cropped out, etc. you can expect those defects to be reflected in the processed output. Please carefully inspect your photos prior to sending them to us.

• What UAV do I need?
  It really depends on what you have set out to accomplish and on your budget. If you are about to map a smaller site of say up to 500 Ha, then consumer UAVs like the DJI Phantom or Mavic Pro should suffice. But if you are intent on broad acre surveying, then we recommend that you look towards other, ideally fixed-wing, modular and longer flight solutions or hire a professional UAV pilot. Whatever the case, your UAV must be compatible with Drone Deploy if you wish to use our service. Also consider that going beyond a certain craft weight ( > 2 kgs for Australia) may put you under a legal obligation to register as a pilot, which entails covering substantial costs and following special procedures.

• If I have a RTK-equipped UAV is the Precision service obsolete for me?
  In short, yes and no. Since the RTK module and TimeSync of the P4RTK embed the sub-centimetre accuracy directly into the image's metadata, you no longer have to carry out a precision survey of Ground Control Points and therefore you don't need to use our Precision Service to get the accuracy. Instead, if you use the Standard Service you will achieve the same level of accuracy. However, by using the Standard Service you will not get the benefit of the additional mapping outputs such as optimized and cleaned up contours, slope, hillshade, aspect, etc. that are included in our Precision Service by default. If you need those, you will have to purchase them separately.

• Why is my Orthomosaic output not loading/displaying in Google Earth? Why is Google Earth crashing?
  This is not an issue with our output, but with Google Earth. Unfortunately, Google Earth can only display images up to a certain resolution. From our testing, that limit comes up to around ~10 000 px wide. Most of our Orthomosaics are over 35000 px wide at maximum resolution. This is the main reason why Google Earth may not be able to display your output. Sadly, there is no way around this other than to create a down-sampled version of your output for use in Google Earth. For this reason, in addition to providing you with the maximum resolution output, we also create for you a 10 cm/px and 20 cm/px versions for use in Google Earth.

• Of what use are the optimized contours?
  Optimizing your contours is very important if you are intending to use them for tasks such as those pertaining to technical design, - e.g. dam, road, channel or earthwork design. It is important because non-optimized contours can be heavy and difficult to work with due to the presence of noise and too many vertices. Furthermore, contours used for technical design are typically smoothed in order to reduce the likelihood of software errors during triangulation calculations. Some sites with high grasses may also generate an extreme amount of contours to the point that they become unusable just due to sheer visual noise, in which case optimization is also useful. We also recommend slightly smoothing out contours prior to using them for planning in order to avoid the naturally occurring jaggedness which may cause erratic behaviour in design and engineering software.

• Can you look for mapping data for me? 
  No. Regardless of which service package you purchase, we only process mapping data that you provide us with. We cannot spend the time looking for the data ourselves.