The market for aerial photography and data services is becoming intensely competitive. The hot-off-the-presses Part 107 regulatory change went into effect on August 29 and has already produced a stampede of new drone pilots anxious to take flight. Many experienced UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) pilots are searching for new ways to differentiate their services and capture higher-value aerial data. With a larger demand now for capturing aerial footage from drones, your success rate with clients all comes down to image clarity and data quality.
Many newcomers to the UAS industry are making up for their lack of experience by implementing top-tier aerial data software platforms. Among those is Drone Deploy, which helps pilots plan and automate their operations while enabling them to manage their data directly through the cloud.
The software’s compatibility with virtually all drone models is establishing its position as an essential tool for skilled operators. Drone Deploy launched its free app in February 2016. As of October 20, 2016, the app had already surpassed 50,000 downloads in the Google Play store and is recognized as the world’s most popular app for drone mapping.
Mapping Functionality
The type of mapping this program offers is extremely comprehensive. It delves into orthomosaic maps to help pilots perform high-altitude drone photography. Now pilots can take more detailed images of oil tanks, construction sites, or imagery for fire damage assessment.
The program can also perform highly accurate topographic modelling for operators who are capturing aerial data of specific landscapes. For geographic analysis, this is invaluable, and it’s easy to upload this imagery to the mobile app for quick access.
NDVI analysis is also possible, and this can help farmers assess crop health using five available algorithms.
As one might expect, the program additionally offers 3D mapping capability. Compared to other software on the market, these have more detail, accuracy, and lets pilots add point clouds for more clarity on pinpointing locations.
Get Map Data Quickly
Time is often of the essence on any aerial project. Drone Deploy helps pilots quickly process map data using their bank of supercomputers and its cloud-based platform helps ease scalability.
Data Export
It is critical that pilots are able to export aerial data in a format that works the your particular operating system or platform of his or her employer or client. Drone Deploy has a built-in Export Engine that enables pilots to choose the appropriate file format.
Safety Check
The safety features aren’t all that different than what one might find on the DJI Go App or the FAA’s B4UFLY App, but many pilots might find it helpful to have all of this functionality in one place. Drone Deploy features safety awareness functionality and lets pilots know whether it’s safe to fly in a particular area at a given time. The app provides battery alerts and performs pre-flight and in-flight checks to help pilots avoid safety concerns such as damage due to inclement weather or other dangers. This feature provides geo-fencing so pilots can easily operate within a predetermined course.
Although the app features many redundant features found on other platforms, the affordable and comprehensive set of tools included make it a must-have for enterprising drone pilots.
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