Turn your site into a map, a model or a measurement
Hundreds of overlapping drone photos become a detailed, to-scale map image, a surface model or a 3D model. Use it for planning, progress tracking, volume estimates and showing a site to people who can't visit.
Useful wherever a current, measurable view of a site helps
- Engineers & land surveyors
- Construction & site managers
- Quarries, material yards & landscape suppliers
- Developers & land planners
- Municipalities & facility managers
- Owners of large properties
Problems it solves
- Old or missing imagery. Public aerial photos can be years out of date. A new flight shows the site as it is today.
- Hard-to-walk sites. Map large, steep or hazardous areas without walking every corner.
- Inventory checks. Estimate stockpile volumes without climbing piles.
- Planning and communication. Give designers, crews and clients the same current picture.
What you can request
Pick what you'll actually use. Not every project needs every output, and we'll settle the final list when I prepare your quote.
Map image (orthomosaic)
Overlapping photos stitched and corrected into one detailed, to-scale image of the whole site. Good for site plans, progress records and GIS base maps.
Files: GeoTIFF, plus an easy-to-open JPG or PDF preview
Surface model (DSM)
A height map of the ground and everything on it: buildings, trees, stockpiles. Useful for drainage overviews, earthwork planning and your engineer's analysis.
Files: GeoTIFF
3D model
A realistic, textured model of a site or building that you can rotate, measure and share with people who can't visit.
Files: OBJ, OSGB or PLY, with viewing instructions
Point cloud
Millions of colored 3D points for CAD, BIM and GIS software.
Files: LAS, LAZ or PLY
Measurements & volume estimates
Distances, areas, and stockpile or cut-and-fill volumes measured on the 3D data, delivered as a short summary with screenshots. How volumes work
Files: PDF summary
Processing report
The DJI Terra quality report for the job, showing how the photos were aligned and the software's internal statistics.
Files: PDF
RTK helps. It isn't a guarantee.
You'll see big accuracy numbers in drone marketing. Here's what actually determines the accuracy of a finished map, and how it's checked.
What RTK does
The Matrice 4E receives real-time corrections from NYSNet, the network of GNSS reference stations run by the New York State Department of Transportation. When the drone holds a "fixed" RTK solution, each photo is tagged with a precise camera position. That improves positioning, helps repeat flights line up, and reduces how many ground targets a project needs.
What else affects accuracy
- Flight height and image detail (ground sample distance)
- Photo overlap and flight pattern
- Camera calibration and processing settings
- Light, weather and surface texture: water, snow, shiny roofs and plain pavement are harder to map
- Vegetation, which hides the ground
How accuracy is verified
The only reliable check is a set of independent checkpoints: marked targets on the ground, measured with survey-grade equipment and kept out of processing. Their measured positions are compared with where they appear on the finished map, and the differences are reported as horizontal and vertical RMSE (root mean square error).
What you'll receive
- Without checkpoints: the processing report, but no accuracy claim. The map is suited to visual reference, planning and relative measurements.
- With checkpoints measured by your surveyor, or arranged as part of the quote: a written accuracy check listing each checkpoint and the overall RMSE. Only measured results are stated.
Agreed before the flight: coordinate system, vertical datum, required accuracy, and who measures the checkpoints. NYSNet corrections are referenced to NAD83 (2011).
Volume estimates
Volumes are calculated in DJI Terra from the 3D surface, measured against a base you approve, such as a plane fitted around the toe of a pile. Results depend on how that base is defined, the pile's shape, vegetation and site control.
They're ideal for inventory checks, progress tracking and planning. For quantities used in payment, contracts or design, involve a licensed surveyor or engineer.
Aerial data for surveyors & engineers
I can work as your aerial data subcontractor: flight planning to your specifications, RTK image capture, and processing with your ground control and checkpoint coordinates applied.
- Orthomosaics, surface models, point clouds and 3D models
- Delivered in your coordinate system and datum
- You direct the specifications and remain responsible for the survey or engineering product, and its seal
Mapping questions
Is an orthomosaic the same as a survey?
No. It's a detailed, to-scale image of what was visible on the day of the flight. Determining property boundaries, topography and contours is land surveying under New York law (Education Law §7203) and requires a licensed land surveyor.
Which file formats can you deliver?
Map images and surface models as GeoTIFF; 3D models as OBJ, OSGB or PLY; point clouds as LAS, LAZ or PLY. Easy-to-open JPG or PDF previews are available too. Confirm the formats your software needs when you request a quote.
Can you use our ground control?
Yes. Send the control and checkpoint coordinates along with the coordinate system and datum, and they'll be applied in processing.
How large an area can you map?
It's scoped per site. Larger areas take more flight time, batteries and processing, and the quote reflects that.
Can you make contour lines?
Contours aren't offered. They're a land-surveying product in New York. I can provide the surface model or point cloud to your surveyor or engineer, who can produce them.
Have a site to map?
Send the address, the approximate area and how you'll use the files.