What is aerial topography with drones?

Currently there are different aerial topographers that can be used for surveying terrain data. One of these technological tools are drones, which has made drone topography one of the most popular services currently offered by topographers. In this post we will talk about what drone topography is, the most commonly used aerial topographers and what are the advantages it offers.

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What is topography with drones?

Drone topography is the one that uses these unmanned aerial devices in order to obtain the topography of a certain site. Thanks to the use of drones, high quality images of the terrain can be obtained, in addition to different data that are then processed and even allow the generation of 3D maps of the site.

The most used Drones in Topography

Drones used in topography are specialized equipment that have some features that help to make the topographic work more efficient.

For example, they have GPS technology, thanks to which it is possible to obtain a geopositioned digital view of the work site, and thus obtain measurements of the place.

In addition, drones used in topography also have cameras that allow taking pictures from different angles. The photos captured by the drones have coordinates that facilitate the recognition of points through precision solutions such as RTK or PPK.

Once the drones have obtained information and photos with RTK or PPK, the information can be read through specialized software (in real time or after processing the data) to create 3D models of the terrain. These can then be used to perform various calculations such as elevations, angles, slopes, etc.

Drones are an economical way to obtain an aerial topography view of projects. No airplanes or manned aerial vehicles are needed for this purpose, which allows savings in this type of machines, pilot and topographer on board.

In addition, it is a non-risky way to reach the different fields of work analyzed. Likewise, there are other advantages of using drones for aerial topography, for example:
They can fly at a lower altitude than airplanes.
Due to their size, it is easier for them to access difficult-to-access work sites.
It is a faster and more efficient way to obtain topography data by air.
They only require a ground control point near the launch site to start being used.
Save time and money for projects.
They offer a high degree of accuracy.
They allow tracking of processes throughout the project life cycle.
They can be used to:
Generate project take-off reports.
Generate photorealistic 3D maps of projects.
Improve safety on the job site.
Reduce the level of disputes by having a single source of truth from photographed evidence and processed data.