Category Archives: Aerial/UAS
Don’t Buy a Drone
Instead, invest in a fleet of drones. (Apologies for the clickbait headline!) While I was talking to a surveyor whose firm employs UAS in their work, he mentioned the different models of the craft they have. I interrupted him: “Just how many drones do you have?” “16” was the answer. This got me thinking about...
Night in the Afternoon: A US Solar Eclipse
What you need to know about the 2017 solar eclipse The upcoming solar eclipse will leave a 70-mile-wide trail of darkness across the United States on August 21, 2017 (see the map of the eclipse path on pages 44-45). This will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for many people. While another total solar eclipse will make...
Mapping Rwanda: Surges Forward in UAS Mapping Use
From cadastral to precision agriculture to humanitarian aid, UAS are making a big difference while mapping Rwanda. (Above: Course participants examine an orthomosaic in Pix4Dmapper during software training.) After Rwanda made waves in the news early last year for allegedly being the first country to approve drone delivery, people payed attention. The country, with its rolling...
Laser-powered UAS
As noted in our latest issue about tethered drones, the ability to power UAS from the ground exponentially increases flight times and allows the use of heavier sensor payloads. Tethering accomplishes this at the cost of range, however: generally 200-400’ with commercially available tethering systems. What if a system had the advantages of tethering and...
Launch of INTERGEO 2017: Topics that get the geo-IT sector noticed
Berlin, 16 May 2017 3, 2, 1 and lift-off. The 2017 INTERGEO season is underway, with a programme fully reflecting its long-standing key focus – “Knowledge and action for planet Earth”. Once again in 2017, the leading international trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management’s hot topics will highlight ground-breaking developments and projects of...
GEO Business 2017
Nicholas makes the annual pilgrimage to GEO Business for xyHt This blog is going to start with a short piece about skips. If you are afraid of skips (skips are what you’d call “dumpsters” across the Atlantic), turn away now …. Monday morning and 24 hrs from the start of GEO Business 2017, I get...
