Aerial photography and neighborhood data collection using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), or drones. UASs can provide a rapid, accurate, and very detailed look at how our neighborhoods function
VerticalGeo Creates, maintains, and integrates geospatial data for our customers
For many years VerticalGeo has been working with our home city, the City of O’Fallon, Illinois, to find the most cost effective way to deliver quality neighborhood data rapidly to the city planners. In March 2020 we started using our Black Swift Technologies S-1 drone with integrated RTK GPS correction to collect orthophotography of selected O’Fallon neighborhoods from which we collected building footprint and sidewalk features to update the City of O’Fallon’s geodatabase. We were able to provide the aerial orthophotography and building footprint and sidewalk data for 7 separate rapidly growing neighborhoods within two weeks. Normally it takes several months for the city just to receive orthophotography. Two of the neighborhoods are highlighted in the below 2020 VerticalGeo Web Map.
VerticalGeo uses open source technology whenever available. For many years we used DroneDeploy and Pix4D to turn our UAS collected aerial photography into orthophotography in a format that is usable for local government Public Works, Asset Management, Mapping, and Surveying agencies. We have found that open source drone mapping software such as OpenDroneMap does a better job and saves significant cost for the project. We have been using OpenDroneMap exlusively over the last year. With the experience we have had we have found some great value in OpenDroneMap.
The above image is of our OpenDroneMap viewer showing orthophotography we collected recently for a neighborhood mapping project. You can click on the image to go to our viewer. It may not be running because we turn the server off when we are not actively using it. You can see from the banners across the upper right section of the viewer that you can view Orthophoto, Plant Health, Surface Model, and Terrain Model. In the bottom right hand corner of the viewer is a place to share your product and a place to select the 3-D pointcloud view. It really is a great aerial photography processing platform with all the capabilities of DroneDeploy or Pix4D.
There are three ways we can help you use OpenDroneMap:
If you have a server: We can help your or your organization install and configure OpenDroneMap on your server. This way you have complete control of where your drone imagery is stored and processed. Plus, once you have installed OpenDroneMap there is no cost whatsoever to use the platform. It will run on your server and save all of its information on your server. It also provides a great viewing platform for the orthophotography, surface models, and point clouds it can create from your drone aerial photography
If you don’t have a server: This is the system we use. The good news is that, similar to DroneDeploy, we have developed a cloud-based version of OpenDroneMap that we can install, configure, and maintain for you on Microsoft Azure. There are three main differences between the cloud-based version and the server-based version. The end result is an identical product.
The cloud-based product stores your drone collected aerial photography, orthophotos, surface models, and point clouds in a cloud-based storage system
The cloud-based product processes your drone collected aerial photography, orthophotos, surface models, and point clouds with cloud-based processing
The monthly cost is higher than running the system on your own server because you are not using your own server for processing and storage. You are using a cloud service for this.
If you rarely use your DroneDeploy or Pix4D capabilities and are looking for the most cost-effective way to process, store, and view your orthophotography, surface models, and point clouds, we can process your imagery for you.
Feel welcome to E-Mail us at contact@verticalgeo.com, or send us a message on FaceBook or LinkedIn and we will be happy to discuss capabilities and pricing options with you.