Category Archives: Aerial/UAS

The Barrier Islands off the Gulf Coast are threatened by coastal land loss.

Crossing the Barrier

Above: The Barrier Islands off the Gulf Coast are threatened by coastal land loss.  A Louisiana university overcame a barrier facing scientific research of coastal land loss—with a UAS. “We are losing an acre of coastline every 30 minutes,” says Dr. Gary LaFleur Jr., associate professor of biological sciences at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. And...

Aeryon SkyRanger with stabilized dual EO/IR high-resolution cameras.

Primed for Growth

Aeryon epitomizes the current and coming uprising in UAS. The global UAS market (according to MarketsandMarkets) is set to grow at a 34.36% compound annual growth rate from 2015 to 2020, with UAS shipments to reach 3.8 million units in 2020. A new report from the FAA backs up this forecast, with a somewhat lower...

UAS: It’s Unstoppable and Headed Your Way

From time to time I like to stop and think about the mission of Pangaea and explain that mission to you. My task is exposing you to new, emerging geospatial technologies. But why bother? Here’s a little analogy I thought of to help explain why keeping abreast of new geospatial tech is critical. Imagine emerging...

An Altanvian employee tries out their newly redesigned Nova 7200.

The Practice of UAS

Above: An Altanvian employee tries out their newly redesigned Nova 7200. Advice from a pro on introducing UAS into your practice. UAS are quickly transforming from cutting-edge to standard tools for geospatial mapping and surveying. How will your firm be competitive and turn this technology into a profitable business? Get Smart about Regulations The greatest challenge...

Distinguishing Features

Inside the unique design of the Falcon 8 I must confess a little bit of UAS fatigue. Among the flood of new UAS, it takes a bit of research to find distinguishing features. It does make sense at one level that a basic form might evolve from so many parallel development efforts, but it makes...

High-definition mapping sensors (lidar, digital, and oblique imagery, here mounted on a helicopter during collection of an autonomous vehicle mapping project) provide an accurate, cost-effective approach to limit the interference and potential delays related to collecting extensive control on a right of way.

Closer Than It Looks

Above: High-definition mapping sensors (lidar, digital, and oblique imagery, here mounted on a helicopter during collection of an autonomous vehicle mapping project) provide an accurate, cost-effective approach to limit the interference and potential delays related to collecting extensive control on a right of way. A hybrid of geospatial technologies could help autonomous vehicle mapping drive...