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Where drone photogrammetry stops being good enough

Surveying · 08 November 2024

Photogrammetry from an aerial platform is genuinely transformative for a specific set of tasks: surface models over large acreage, stockpile and earthwork volumes, corridor mapping, and progress documentation. Two flights over a 126-acre subdivision produced a usable surface model in an afternoon.

It has hard limits, and they are worth stating plainly. It cannot see through canopy, and vegetated ground surfaces need supplementing with conventional or LiDAR methods. Vertical accuracy depends entirely on ground control; without well-distributed control points the model will be internally consistent and globally wrong.

Most importantly, it does not establish a boundary. A boundary is a legal determination made by a licensed professional from deeds, monuments and evidence on the ground. No camera resolves a conflicting call in a 1911 deed. Use the drone for the surface and the surveyor for the line.

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