Drone Surveying & Mapping Ireland | ±5cm Accuracy

Our drone surveys consistently achieve ±5cm horizontal and vertical accuracy using RTK/PPK GNSS technology and survey-grade ground control points (GCPs). This meets or exceeds the accuracy requirements for most topographic, volumetric, and construction surveys in Ireland.

Most sites can be captured in a single day. A typical 10-acre site takes approximately 30–45 minutes of flight time, plus ground control setup. You will receive your processed deliverables within 2 working days of the site visit.

No. We handle all IAA/EASA airspace permissions, NOTAM applications, and landowner notifications as part of our service. You simply provide the site location and we take care of the rest.

Standard deliverables include georeferenced orthomosaic maps, digital terrain models (DTM), contour maps (at your chosen interval), volumetric calculations, 3D point clouds, and CAD-ready DXF/DWG drawings. All data is delivered in your preferred coordinate system.

We provide fixed-price quotes based on site area and deliverables required. Drone surveys typically cost 60% less than traditional ground surveys. Send us your site boundary for a no-obligation quote within 24 hours.

Drone flights require reasonable weather conditions – wind speeds below 35 km/h and no heavy rain. Light drizzle and overcast conditions are fine and can actually produce better photogrammetric results. If weather prevents flying on the scheduled date, we reschedule at no extra cost.

RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) corrects the drone’s GNSS position in real time during the flight using a live correction stream from a base station. PPK (Post-Processed Kinematic) applies the same corrections after the flight using logged raw data – which is more reliable on sites where a radio link is difficult to maintain. Both methods achieve ±5cm accuracy. We assess each site individually and use whichever method gives us the most reliable result, often combining RTK flight positioning with PPK post-processing and physical ground control points for maximum confidence.

An orthomosaic is a georeferenced aerial map produced by stitching together hundreds of individual drone photographs and correcting them for lens distortion and terrain relief displacement. Unlike a standard aerial image, an orthomosaic has real-world coordinate accuracy – you can measure distances and areas directly from it. Our orthomosaics are accurate to ±5cm when produced with RTK/PPK processing and physical ground control points. Every aerial survey we carry out includes a full-resolution GeoTIFF orthomosaic as a standard deliverable.

Ground control points (GCPs) are precisely measured reference markers placed on the ground before the drone survey flight. We measure each GCP with a survey-grade RTK GNSS receiver, giving us ground truth positions accurate to within a centimetre. These points are then identified in the aerial imagery during photogrammetric processing, anchoring the 3D model to real-world coordinates. GCPs are what bridge the gap between “the drone says it was here” and “it was actually here to ±5cm.” We place GCPs on most surveys unless site conditions or project specifications indicate PPK-only processing is appropriate.