Tips for Increasing Precision in Drone Mapping Projects

One of the most frustrating aspects of a drone mapping project is realizing that the data you've collected isn't suitable for use. Nobody wants to waste significant time and money gathering photographs that don't provide the answers they need. While you can't anticipate every conceivable problem, a little forethought may go a long way toward improving outcomes. We've compiled a list of five recommendations to help you increase the accuracy of your drone mapping efforts.

Understand the distance

Before you begin capturing photographs, you must first determine the amount of detail necessary for your project. Calculate your desired ground sampling distance (GSD) and arrange your flights appropriately. This step is critical since measurement accuracy is directly connected to the ground sampling distance of the source photos - therefore double-check it's correct.

If you're unsure about your camera's ground sampling distance, we have an article that can help you get started. All of the fundamental camera model parameters you need may be found in the Internal Camera Model Parameters section of one of your most recent Quality Reports.

Capture a sufficient amount of overlap

More picture overlap between photographs will provide better results. We suggest that photos overlap by at least 75% in the front and 60% on each side. If you are unsure if you have enough picture overlap, try recording more. Keep in mind that you may delete extraneous information but not build anything from nothing.

Extend the captured area

Make careful to take photographs that extend somewhat beyond the area of interest. Because the reconstruction is made up of overlapping photos, it may be biased or erroneous if only one side of a feature is recorded. Fortunately, expanding the region of your flight plan is fairly simple. As mentioned in the last point, it is much simpler to reject surplus data than it is to collect more later!

Use GCPs for more precision

Exact ground control points (GCPs) are highly advised. GCPs not only increase the absolute accuracy of a project, but they also assure its relative correctness. More information about relative and absolute accuracy may be found in aerial mapping. Not sure where to begin? Best practices imply that a project's control should be more accurate than the data it controls; hence, the precision of a GCP's measurement should be at least as good as the ground sampling distance of your picture. By this point, we hope you've had a chance to determine the ground sampling distance for your project.

Image geotags measured using RTK/PPK, on the other hand, may minimize the density or demand for ground control points. Whatever method you choose to control the outcomes of your project, we suggest include a few checkpoints to independently confirm the correctness of your data.

Conclusion

Drone surveys are growing more popular for a variety of purposes, including mapping, building site inspections, and property surveying. The use of drones in surveying has several advantages, including better accuracy, decreased time, and cost-effectiveness. However, in order to get the optimum results, parameters such as ground sampling distance, picture overlap, enlarged area collected, usage of exact ground control points, and confirmation of data must be considered. Drone Survey Ireland may give useful insights and data for a broad variety of sectors and projects with proper preparation and execution.