Contrasting Orthophotos by Height, Overlap, and Drone

Stephen F Austin State University, Baker Pattillo Student Center

Drones have recently become a mainstay for surveying and modeling of small areas of land in a cost-efficient manner. Yet there are many variables that affect the time, quality, and cost of capturing and generating such products. We look at several of these parameters and discuss the alternatives to minimize cost over a series of projects. The parameters in question include height, overlap, sensor resolution, processing time, drone costs, computer costs, processing costs, time in the field, storage, drone endurance and the likelihood of costly delays. A series of flights using different drones and flight parameters were then used to validate the hypothesis. The results indicate that for a particular need and sensor resolution there exists a curve of height vs overlap that produces similar results. Thus, selecting the point on the curve that minimizes flight time will produce the lowest cost for a series of projects.