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Contour Work

Wags

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Oct 12, 2021
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Hi there folks, I shall lurk no more and hopefully give back to the community as my journey unfolds.

I would really appreciate some advice on which way I should go for my (rather simple) requirements. Your opinions are very much appreciated.

I do a lot of Permaculture design and creating a base map with a contour layer is where it all begins. As my jobs have grown in size and my clients begin stressing about water management more and more I am now needing to get airborne and bring this information in efficiently so that I can get to work on the meat of the design.

I don't need crazy accuracy, I just need to pump out a nice quality map with contour data. Anything extra I can provide on top of that is just a bonus and I can work my way into the extras as I get more experience and an efficient workflow up and running.

Which way would you go on hardware + software to get it all done from start to finish? I have seen good arguments for and against many solutions, but I would like some recommendations from you guys for my specific requirements (or lack thereof).

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.
 
Which way would you go on hardware + software to get it all done from start to finish? I have seen good arguments for and against many solutions, but I would like some recommendations from you guys for my specific requirements (or lack thereof).
It's relatively easy (with the right tools).
You need a good drone for mapping.
The Phantom 4 pro is probably the best nowdays, but the Mavic 2 pro would also be good.
You can get by with the original Mavic pro as well, but the more recent Mavics aren't supported by mapping apps.

You need a mapping app like DroneDeploy to plan and fly the mapping missions.
And you need either a subscription to DroneDeploy or one of their competitors to have them process the images and create maps .... or you can create your own with Agisoft Metashape.
Neither of those is cost effective unless you are doing quite a lot of mapping.

If you are only interested in relative altitude for drainage etc, you won't need ground control points (which need to be surveyed).

Here's a ( very much shrunken) 0.25 metre plot I did for planning a golfcourse extension using GCPs, which gives accurate altitudes and survey grade horizontal positioning.
i-gZcLPJS-X2.jpg


Here is a small detail section:
i-5sVDLQH-L.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum from the land of Oz.
You’re obviously familiar with GIS and the like to produce. The road you are heading down is an expensive one. Meta4 is right in that you should use any of the proprietary products for flight planning, Pix4D, dronedeploy or any of the others available. If you can afford a subscription then use either of the first two to process your map.
I take the photos and process with WebODM and then take the finished map to QGIS to mark up the map. Both these products are open source and only cost you internet time.
I use an Eos arrow gold with atlas subscription to obtain my GCPs, don’t try to process GCPs with GDA coordinates in WebODM it won’t do it you have to stay with WRG84. If your not to worried about accuracy to the ground that’s OK. I can use GDA coordinates in QGIS and georeference my maps that way.
I could go on but I shan’t bore you. I use my maps for the preplanning stage for indigenous homelands. Absolutely love it.
If you need any other help send a message.
Regards
 
Thanks so much for the brain food guys.

My fear is in going overboard for my realistic requirements. Something like the P4RTK could end up being overkill as would any major subscriptions to the big boys. It just wouldn't end up a viable business decision at this stage. Thankfully there are options!

Would a Mav2Pro with the PPK kit be worth the investment though? I am starting to get a little confused with the Drone side of things. You guys have made the software path pretty clear and now I know where to invest my time.

Thanks again for all of the info. Your results are amazing, Meta. That level of polish is like a pipedream at the moment but this is really something I wish to pursue, so with the right advice and effort I know I'll get there in the end.
 
Wags can I suggest that you put that question to the commercial drone pilot forum. They’re not as active as this forum but you should get a cross section of views.
My work drones are P4PV2/P4Padv and I have the MMP as a backup, which was my start drone way back when. All are registered with CASA.
Regards
 
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Would a Mav2Pro with the PPK kit be worth the investment though? I am starting to get a little confused with the Drone side of things. You guys have made the software path pretty clear and now I know where to invest my time
It would be a waste of $$ and completely unnecessary to look at RTK/PPK.
If you wanted survey grade results, you can get that with an ordinary Phantom 4 pro or Mavic 2 pro, using ground control points.
For what you've described, you don't need that level of accuracy and having relative altitude (not tied to the local datum) and good horizontal accuracy (typically 1-2 metres) would be all you need.
You would get that with the same drone but leaving out the GCPs.
 
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I can't thank you enough for setting me straight. I hope that I can pay it forward and contribute here in the future. Thanks again guys.
 
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