How we work

How we survey

We choose the method for each job. Most of our work is LiDAR, often with photos taken on the same flight.

LiDAR

LiDAR fires laser pulses at the ground and times how long they take to bounce back. Some pulses slip through gaps in the leaves, so it maps the true ground even under thick trees, which a camera alone can't do.

With treesTrees removed

You get:

• A classified point cloud: millions of measured points in 3D
• Terrain and surface models
• Contours and cross-sections
• Volumes, for example cut and fill or stockpiles

We fly it with a DJI M350 RTK drone and a Zenmuse L2 sensor. There's more on our LiDAR page.

Photogrammetry

We take overlapping photos from the drone and stitch them into a flat aerial map (an orthomosaic) or a photorealistic 3D model. It's faster than LiDAR, and works best on open sites with simpler ground.

You get:

• Orthomosaic maps
• Elevation models
• Photorealistic 3D models, for example of cliffs and outcrops
• Construction progress, tracked survey to survey

We choose the camera for each job. The DJI Zenmuse P1, a 45 MP full-frame mapping camera on the M350 RTK, gives the sharpest maps. The DJI Matrice 4E maps large areas quickly. On LiDAR flights, the camera in the Zenmuse L2 takes the photos at the same time.

LiDAR or photogrammetry?

If you're not sure, tell us about the site and what you need, and we'll suggest one.

Multispectral

A multispectral camera sees light beyond what the eye can, including near-infrared. That shows plant health and stress before you can see it in an ordinary photo, using NDVI (a measure of how much red and near-infrared light a plant reflects).

You get:

• NDVI and other plant health maps
• Habitat maps
• Crop and tree health images

We fly a DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral: a colour camera, four multispectral cameras (green, red, red edge and near-infrared), a sunlight sensor for consistent readings between flights, and RTK positioning to the centimetre. For research or detailed crop work, we can arrange a 10-band survey. For some jobs, ordinary colour photos are enough to give a useful plant health index, as on our vineyard project.

Thermal

A thermal camera measures heat instead of light. From the air it shows temperature differences across a whole site, which makes faults and warm animals easy to find.

Solar farms

A faulty solar panel runs hotter than the panels around it. A thermal survey picks out hot spots, failed cells, faulty bypass diodes and strings that have stopped producing. Each fault is mapped to its panel, so the maintenance team can walk straight to it. It is much quicker than checking panels on foot.

For a solar farm, you get:

• A map of every fault, located to the panel
• A thermal image and a colour photo of each fault
• A list of faults, most serious first

Other heat mapping

Thermal maps can also show wet ground, springs and seepage, and heat escaping from buildings.

Deer and wildlife counts

We count deer and other wildlife on estates, in forests and on hill ground, and map where the animals are. Counts are carried out with a colleague who specialises in deer. Flying covers ground that is hard to walk, and disturbs the animals less than a count on foot.

Partner sensors

Some jobs need a sensor we don't fly ourselves. For these we bring in a partner we trust, and combine their results with our own survey data:

• Ground-penetrating radar (GPR): finding buried services, voids and archaeology.
• Magnetometry: finding buried metal and unexploded ordnance, and mapping geology.
• Bathymetry: mapping lake and river beds with drone-mounted sonar.
• Methane detection: finding gas leaks.