How Drone Images are Turned into Orthomosaic Maps?
Because of their ability to cover a lot of ground quickly, drones are powerful tools for creating orthomosaic maps for construction sites. The drone operator may program his craft to fly autonomously over the site and take hundreds or thousands of photos using drone software.
The final map's quality is significantly affected by the pre-planned flying path. Three important factors must be taken into consideration by the drone pilot while creating an orthomosaic map: resolution, overlap, and relevancy.
- Resolution - high-resolution photos are easier to work with during post-processing and affect the final map's quality.
- Overlap - in order to prevent data gaps, there must be enough images captured. Orthomosaic maps typically need an overlap of 70%.
- Relevancy - relevant views, such as those captured during takeoff, landing, or sharp turns, should be avoided.
Aerial photography captured by manned aircraft and cranes, for instance, cannot provide the same flexibility or quality. They cost more and present more safety risks. An experienced drone professional can get the data you want at a fraction of the cost while improving the project's safety and quality of results.
How Orthomosaic Maps are Used in Construction?
Orthomosaic maps are used in construction companies to measure, analyze, and report progress on a project site. These precise geometric maps are used for:
- Pre-construction planning
- Site surveys
- Progress monitoring
- Visual record keeping
- Stockpile measurements
- Cut and fill calculations
- Material and labor cost estimates
- Infrastructure inspection
The list is endless, and there are many ways to customize an orthomosaic map's functionality to your specific building project's needs. 2-D Orthomosaic maps can be built upon to create more layered and complex maps, such as annotated maps, 3-D site models, and 4D BIM plans. All of these maps start as aerial images captured by a drone, which are processed and put together using drone mapping software.
Drone Orthomosaic Maps are Current, Trustworthy, and Detailed.
Aerial Orthomosaic Maps Streamline Planning
Drone mapping may streamline every stage of a construction project, from pre-construction through the final inspection. Drone maps may be used by engineering teams to tailor their designs to the site and account for any unique topography, such as elevation, drainage spots, vegetation, and waterways. This will reduce changes once construction has started, saving time and money.
Overlaying building plans on top of an orthomosaic map during the planning stage is another way to use orthomosaic maps to identify issues before they become expensive.
Drone maps remain a helpful tool as the project progresses. These aerial construction maps make it easy to communicate virtually with off-site stakeholders, provide high-quality data for virtual collaboration, and provide an affordable alternative to manual surveying.
Construction Orthomosaic Maps Improve Communication
For project members who are on-site and those who are not, orthomosaic maps are great communication tools. Without making multiple trips to the physical site location, off-site executives and stakeholders can keep up with the project's progress. Instead, they have access to digitally shared orthomosaic drone maps of the site.
An orthomosaic map's extraordinary amount of detail, together with the added capabilities of annotation and built-in measuring tools, can answer any questions off-site project members have.
The speed of data collection and clarity of information facilitates prompt decision-making and increases productivity on site. Project managers can easily check completed work, plan schedules, and regularly document the project using shared access to orthomosaic maps.
Drone Orthophotographic Maps Save Money on Construction Sites
Project managers can move their construction projects along faster thanks to improved information quality and higher frequency of information updates. To keep all relevant parties updated, orthomosaic maps clearly communicate the progress to project managers, clients, and investors. With this information in place, workers free up time for other tasks.
Drone orthomosaic maps are a reliable resource for cost estimation when it's time to order materials. Drone mapping software includes built-in measurement tools for stockpile measurements and accurate measuring of site dimensions or distances between points on a site. Orthomosaic maps are very precise and reduce the possibility of human mistake when measuring for cost estimates, saving the company money by avoiding oversupplied materials.