Aerial Photogrammetry has been unheard of for many years however the name seems to crop up quite often as this division of photography is becoming more and more popular for applications into construction, agriculture, coastal erosion and many more
With increased and applied innovation into many sectors, we wanted to share with you what it all means and in particular, how we are applying aerial photogrammetry with the use of our drones.
What is Photogrammetry?
Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs. It is a technique that is used to measure three dimensional coordinates with the help of photography.
It enables us to get reliable information about the properties of surfaces without having to have physical contact with them.
By capturing and using overlapping aerial photographs using our drones, we then use this data to create point clouds to produce 2D or the 3D models like shown below.
How Are Aerial Shots Obtained?
As mentioned above, we use drones to capture the images required for photogrammetry. Long gone are the days of hiring a helicopter and photographer at a silly cost.
Drones with attached cameras can capture the aerial photography that is needed using mapping software. We usually capture anything from 5 photographs up to 1,000 (or more) depending on the size of the land, the size of the project and what specific data is required.
For more intricate areas that a drone cannot reach, we contract in a laser-scanning specialist, who can collect imagery that cannot be captured by a drone. Again this data from laser scanners can be applied in the same way giving accuracy and precision to outputted data.
Photogrammetry requires a series of photographs that feature different angles of the same object, building or location.
Above shows a piece of land that needs to be photographed and a general Nadir framework of pictures being taken that overlap to create one large picture when stitched together by software.
It is often the case that drones will fly at a series of different angles to capture different angles in particular when its vertical parts of a building. This is called oblique collection of imagery.
Cartographers are then able to triangulate the position of the objects using various software applications to create what’s needed for the construction team (architects, planners, project managers, etc etc). The data from the pictures can be converted into a myriad of formats like point-cloud, meshing 2D and 3D mapping, elevation reports, measuring distances and volumes and so on.
Uses of Aerial Photogrammetry
Originally the most common uses for Aerial photogrammetry was to create topographical maps which are used to carry out analysis of both small and large geographical areas.
With the advancement of both the drone technology and the software applications available, Aerial photogrammetry is most popular in construction, architecture and land development.
As the imagery required can be taken at a fraction of the cost by drones when compared to more traditional methods (examining the same portion of land by foot), their are big savings to be made on cost, time and resource’s which ultimately results in increased productivity and ROI.
The benefits of using photogrammetry within the construction industry are limitless. Evidentially there are massive benefits and advantages of employing and embracing this new innovative technology.
Most of our clients have immediately seen savings in cost, time and recourses as well as having no down time or disruption on site when our team is collecting aerial images using drones.
On top of this there is an equal benefit to saving time and getting things done a lot faster and crating turn around of supplying data to specialists usually on the same day (or at least within 24 hours) .
If you are in construction and want to discuss a project that could benefit productivity and increase ROI then why not chat things through with us to see how we can help apply this to your business.
Call us now on 01646 689292 or contact us here.