Subcontracted aerial capture for a land surveying firm

The challenge

Most clients trust the output. A land surveying firm is different: their professional responsibility rests on what they certify, so the aerial capture has to meet a standard they are willing to carry. That is a higher bar than a client accepting a deliverable, and it is the clearest external test of the method.

The sites

Three sites in one engagement, captured in May and June: a quarter section at Springdale, and two aggregate sites, at Whitecourt and at Whitecloud.

Equipment and method

RTK with corrections streamed live over NTRIP, with no ground control set on any of the three sites. The firm specified the capture and accepted positions carried by the correction network, which is the part of this engagement worth noting. The alternative approach, a base station set on site, is the one used where there is no mobile signal, and the choice is made to fit the site rather than applied the same way everywhere.

Airspace and safety

Rural and industrial airspace. The aggregate sites were captured around active operations with launch positions clear of haul routes.

Deliverables

The full set, handed over as processed products rather than raw frames: imagery, orthomosaic, point cloud and DSM, plus the DroneDeploy link.

Result

The firm used the outputs directly rather than reprocessing them, which is a stronger statement than the capture alone. It also lets us state the division plainly. Work requiring an Alberta Land Surveyor belongs to an Alberta Land Surveyor, and they hold that responsibility. We supply the aerial capture they specify, to the standard they set.

Read more about how accuracy is achieved and stated