Industry
Drone mapping for cemeteries and memorial grounds
Cemetery records are often paper, often incomplete and rarely tied to accurate positions. Aerial capture and geotagged ground photography together produce a plot level record that can be searched, shared and handed to whoever manages the grounds next.
A full property orthomosaic is captured at a resolution where individual plots and markers are legible, and plot and section boundaries are digitised against that imagery rather than estimated from a paper plan.
Ground level photography of individual markers is geotagged using network corrections, which ties each photograph to a mapped position accurately enough to reconcile against an existing register.
Delivery is in formats that import into cemetery management software or GIS, so the record is usable rather than merely archived. Flights are scheduled around services and visitor activity.
Seven cemeteries have been mapped across Alberta and British Columbia for a single plot management client over the 2025 and 2026 seasons, including historic Coal Branch sites under mature tree cover and with no mobile network, where corrections came from a base station set on the grounds.
Services used most in this sector
Common questions
How accurate is the plot mapping?
Aerial capture uses RTK positioning, and individual marker photography is geotagged for centimetre accuracy on the ground. That is enough to tie a photograph of a marker to a mapped plot reliably. Where a site has no mobile signal the corrections come from a base station set on the grounds instead of a network, and the standard is the same.
Can the record be matched to our existing paper register?
Yes. The indexed output is built to be reconciled against an existing register, and delivered in formats that import into cemetery management software or GIS.
Is the work carried out respectfully?
Flights are scheduled around services and visitor activity. If someone is at a graveside the launch waits or the flight moves to another part of the grounds and returns later, a service means the day is rescheduled, and nobody is flown over. Ground photography is carried out on foot with the same care a groundskeeper would expect.
Sector reference
- Aerial capture
- RTK photogrammetry
- Marker photography
- Centimetre geotagged
- Output
- Ortho, plot boundaries, indexed photos
- Formats
- GIS and management software ready
Cemetery documentation runs as an active vertical, including a combined aerial and marker level capture delivered at a heritage site in British Columbia.
How it works
See how we do the restHow we map every headstone and link it to its record
Read the steps
- Open ground and on-site RTKThe open ground is flown in a grid. Where there is no cell service, an RTK base set up on site provides the corrections instead of a network.
- Low under the canopyUnder the trees the drone flies low, close enough that the inscriptions on each headstone are readable in the imagery.
- Hand-held under dense treesWhere the canopy is too dense to fly, the aircraft is carried by hand to each headstone to tie a position to it.
- Every stone locatedEvery stone is located and numbered by row and plot on one plot map.
- Linked to the recordEach stone links to its inscription photo and to the burial record, so families and staff can find a plot in seconds.