UAS Case Study – Volumetric Mapping Application

Operating an advanced Leptron Avenger rotary UAS platform carrying a digital SLR camera with calibrated optics, Sanborn acquired 3.5cm resolution aerial imagery for a water utility. The specific area of interest was in and around a Colorado reservoir. One of the primary goals of this pilot study was to determine efficiencies gained by employing UAS technology versus traditional survey methods. Time on site operating the UAS was approximately 30 minutes to acquire all imagery for processing.

The resulting raw imagery data was processed to generate a detailed 3D Terrain Map and orthoimagery. From this data, volumetric calculations concerning the reservoir could be determined for the water utility.