How to make detailed maps using a drone
Today I am in Sulawesi, Central Indonesia to make a detailed contour map of an area for development. And I had to get up at 5am in order to get this steemit post out quickly before my working day begins!
The red marker in the map below shows exactly where Sulawesi is and the little star shows my current home of Bali in the South of Indonesia.
I am in an area called Palu in the north of Sulawesi, about a 30min drive from the airport.
We are on the west shoreline of this channel and in a few hours I will be setting off with my DJI Inspire drone to map around 300 acres with gradient contour lines in order that the developers can make accurate plans for their proposed development.
Yesterday we did some scouting of the area but due to the slightly overcast weather and occasional rain I didn't fly my drone for too long. Here you can see what I was able to capture before the rain arrived.
This is the area I will be mapping today.
It is of interest to developers due to its beautiful white sand bays and proximity to the airport.
It has an unspoilt coral reef which is perfect for diving and snorkelling.
There are giant turtles which come to this bay to lay their eggs. I've not spotted any yet, but will be sure to photograph them if I do.
I was not aware until I received the call for this job that my DJI Inspire 1 was capable of making accurate maps.
Here you can see it in action.
I will be using an app on my ipad to make all the calculations for me, called Maps Made Easy. And not having done this before I am hoping that it is as easy as the app suggests!
Here is a link to their site: https://www.mapsmadeeasy.com/guide
All I have to do is set the area I want to map and the drone will fly in straight lines up and down this area taking hundreds of high resolution photos which I will then have to stitch together to make the first stage of the map.
I must download another program to help me create the contour lines. To be honest, at this stage I have absolutely no idea how this program works... as it's still downloading now. Don't tell my client!
It is my intention to produce for them something which looks like this, with contour lines at every 5 meters.
....so, wish me luck and I will check back in to Steemit when I return to Bali in a few days.
Hopefully I will be able to show you my beautiful new contour maps of this area!
Blessings to you all and have a great weekend :)
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MY WORK INVOLVES THE EXACT THING!!!
Wow we can talk so much about this! Do you need any help or advice? I can't really talk about the details of my past jobs because I've signed an NDA but I don't mind telling how I go about it if it helps a fellow Steemian.
What a coincidence! I feel as if I do need some help. What programs do you use?
As you're using a DJI inspire 2. I recommend using DJI Ground Station Mapper Pro, its an iPad app and In my opinion the easiest GCS app to use, what with it being developed by DJI themselves.
As for the output processing. My company has a proprietary software for it. But as for freelance Mapper, you can either use Pix4D Mapper (the best non-proprietary software around, pricey unless you charge your clients) or you can try using ArcGis desktop app (which is what I use myself).
The programs itself is fairly easy to use once you understand the process flow of it, and there's alot of tutorial video you can watch to get an idea of what to do.
All the best for your project! If you need any help just shout, I'll help you as best as I can.
Many thanks my friend. I am using an Inspire 1 and have downloaded the Maps Made Easy app. Currently watching tutorials! My biggest concern is creating the contour lines from the images I will be shooting today. I am confused how this can be created from photos???
There are LOTS more data you can get with just visual photos alone. Even I can't imagine the sort of data you can derive just by plugging in photos into the software.
Elevation, 3D model, plant health, moisture level.. So many things you can do with the technology we have now. And it's just the beginning! So many softwares are still considered "prototype" even with the amazing output performance. What a time to be alive!
This looks amazing, well done!
Thanks. I'm not there yet, but I appreciate your comment :)
Best of all, you can map with DJI Phantom 3 and 4's and the awesome Mavic Pro also for a reduced investment.
Thanks for the info. But I am in completely in love with my Inspire :) Even in high winds it works well due to it's weight. Not sure how the Mavic performs in high winds?
Very beautiful but I want to see the turtles!
I will do my best to find some for you! :)
Great informative post!
Thanks very much for the comment:)
Now that is so cool!
Hopefully it will be mega cool when I have a finished product for them :)