This is my first blog for my newly rejuvenated company at Goldeneye for drone operations.
Aerial images and video from drones is becoming more and more used by the media, industry and individuals for a variety of reasons. In the media for example, just think about the awful recent earthquakes in Turkey and Northern Syria. The ground conditions were far too dangerous to take a lot of the footage in the conventional way, with camera crews on the ground. However, with the deployment of drones, the reporters and news producers were able to film safely and show their viewers the desperation of the damage the quake caused to the homes and buildings; thus show the affect this tragedy had on the human population of the area. None of this could have been done with such effect without the use of drones.
So I have demonstrated how drones can be deployed in unsafe, dangerous places and obtain the valuable footage and images. Drones have proved a very useful tool to take simple aerial images and videos of houses in the last few years. Real estate agents have used drone footage to show the position of a property within its surrounding very well, adding a huge dimension to the sales particulars of a house. My own opinion is that they do not use drones nearly enough, as house buyers are always as interested in the area the property is situated within the neighbourhood, as well as whether there are good schools, medical facilities and shops in the area.
In industry, Drones are becoming far more utilised for mapping and looking down at an area from above. While there have always been a need for aerial imagery for certain projects, the conventional way of hiring a helicopter or some other method to do the work has been superseded by the drone. The drone can carry out the work far more quickly and cheaply than the traditional methods. Furthermore, one properly recorded image from a drone is able to supply far more detail of the ground over which it is flying and therefore far more data can be taken from just the one mapping flight. All this for a fraction of the price compared with hiring a helicopter, pilot and camera crew etc. One drone operator and his drone, (provided he/she is qualified and insured under the law governing drone operation by the CAA) can do all this in a fraction of the time. Not only does this save huge sums of money, but also, instead of waiting sometimes weeks for the data to be available for evaluation, with a drone, quite often this can be only a few hours.
Drones land surveys have the ability to provide a wide range of data using GPS, ground based measurements equivalent to about 1 cm per pixel on the ground. There are three main elements to measuring, all of which can be achieved using the same image. They are Digital Elevation Models, (DMMs) Digital Terrain Models, (DTMs) and Digital Surface Models, (DSMs). All these are produced easily and by just one aerial drone image; for example you may need a measurement from A to B or an accurate measurement of a whole area or even measurements of contours and level heights. Finally, you may require a 3D image of an area and this also can be provided with ease and accuracy; using a drone rather than a helicopter for example, (that is if a helicopter can physically carry out the task)
Land mapping covers many of the uses for a drone including capturing great images for PR and advertising for hotels, leisure activities such as golf courses. Add to those, there are holiday cottages showing how they sit within their surroundings in the countryside and camp and glamping sites, now so popular with the ‘staycation’ holiday makers. Drone imagery can really enhance and show off a facility to its best advantages.
In the next blog, we look at some of the other uses for a drone and how they can help in other way; for agricultural research and development enterprises and how it is more common for them to be used at events like weddings.
Goldeneye providing aerial solutions for you.