It is no longer news that technological advancement is fast changing the face of the world, with every sector gladly embracing this change. With the recent development in drone technology, the mapping and surveying sector is also going through a revolution. This technology has unfolded new methods for surveying which has indeed created tremendous efficiencies for surveyors. It has also challenged surveyors to rise to its increasing demand and meet up with not just the profession’s expectations but the client’s demands as well.

Drone technology can also be said to have increased efficiency over time and has helped reduce the risk faced by surveyors, especially when working on threatening sites. It has drastically and efficiently changed the data collection and storage process with an easy means of sourcing and accessing information with utmost accuracy.

Drones have also allowed surveyors to get clear and detailed survey data with utmost accuracy. This technology can fly at low altitudes and gather close-up data that would have been unattainable or difficult to access.

With the help of its inbuilt digital camera, the drone captures and provides a very detailed pictorial representation of your site from above and makes it easy to gather data, especially when surveying difficult-to-access areas or challenging terrains like underdeveloped land, bodies of water, and large pieces of land.

This feature helped us during one of our engineering surveys at Elegushi, Lekki where we needed proper detailing and georeferencing of the land. This is a very big site of about 12 hectares of land and working with only our GNSS would have taken us weeks to complete but employing the drone was way faster than you can imagine.

With the help of the drone, we were able to get a complete pictorial representation of what we were detailing, and also compare the data gotten from our GNSS receivers so that it’s not just correct pictorially but it’s also correct coordinate-wise.

Drones can also be used to carry out several surveys like 3D Mapping, topographic surveys, bathymetric surveys, and many more and produce the same standard and accurate data as with the conventional survey method but within a short frame of time. This invariably also reduces cost and manpower.

More so, drone survey has also made it possible for surveyors to accept more projects and concentrate on extrapolating data as against the conventional survey method.

Though it’s understandable to say that not every project needs a drone but we can safely say that drones become necessary when dealing with large sites when surveying difficult-to-access areas or challenging terrains like underdeveloped land, extreme heights, bodies of water, and when the safety of your team is in question.

In a nutshell, surveying with a drone reduces cost, and creates comprehensive and accurate results in a short time, with the safety of surveyors in mind while ensuring a good return on your investment

At OTIC Surveys, we are happy to say that we are already fully utilizing this technology to deliver quality, accurate, and easy-to-access data that will help your architects, engineers, developers, and landowners make informed decisions.

DRONE SURVEY: THE NEW SWISS ARMY KNIFE FOR SURVEYORS

DRONE SURVEY: THE NEW SWISS ARMY KNIFE FOR SURVEYORS