Drone Surveys

AirTech has flown monthly drone surveys on a single island masterplan since November 2023. Each survey covers roughly 36 square kilometres, and we run concurrent teams so the whole area is captured as one consistent snapshot rather than a set of dates stitched together.

Capture is at 3 cm ground resolution as standard, at a rate of 4.5 square kilometres per drone per day. Marked ground control targets are set out across the site and fixed by GNSS before each flight, then every survey is checked against independent check points before anything is issued. Without ground control a survey is georeferenced by the drone’s own GPS alone, which will not support volumetric measurement, level checking or comparison against design, so we do not fly survey work that way.

Each survey delivers the same four formats, so datasets compare directly across the life of a project:

• Ortho mosaic — georeferenced TIFF of the surveyed extent
• Contours — DWG at 0.05 m and 0.5 m intervals
• Digital Surface Model — single-band elevation raster, TIFF
• Point cloud — dense photogrammetric LAS or LAZ

Data goes to the client’s GIS team and on to the consultant. We hold GCAA Letters of Authorisation and ADAC NOTAMs on standing renewal and apply for MOD security permits per flying day, so permits are our job, not yours.

Six questions for any survey quotation

• Is ground control included, and is accuracy stated as a number rather than as “survey-grade”?
• Is the quoted area your site boundary, or the flown area including the buffer needed to fly it properly?
• What resolution is quoted, and is it the resolution you actually need?
• Are permits at cost, or marked up?
• Is processing included, and in which formats?
• Who owns the imagery, and how long is it retained and accessible?

Answer those six and two quotations that looked far apart usually turn out to be either identical or not comparable at all. Send us your site boundary and we will price against it.