Drone survey software for topographic surveys you can sign off
Bring your control, fly the site and upload the photos. Dronemapping ties the model to your coordinate system, reports RMSE on independent checkpoints, and delivers the terrain model and contours your civil designer asks for.
net volume
net volume
Drone topographic survey software from control to contours
A drone topo is only as good as the chain behind it. Dronemapping follows the order a survey crew already works in.
- Set control: place and shoot ground control points and checkpoints with your GNSS rover or total station.
- Fly: a grid at the altitude that gives the GSD your deliverable needs, with enough front and side overlap.
- Process: upload photos and the control file, pick the coordinate system, mark each target on the photos.
- Check: read the accuracy report, with checkpoints kept out of the adjustment.
- Deliver: DTM, contours, orthomosaic and a view link for the client.
Ground control points, checkpoints and the accuracy report
Import control as a CSV with point name, northing, easting and elevation. Choose the horizontal coordinate system by EPSG code, for example a State Plane zone in US survey feet or a UTM zone in meters, and the outputs come back in the same system.
Each point is either a GCP, used to constrain the bundle adjustment, or a checkpoint, held back and used only to test the result. The accuracy report on Team and above lists residuals in X, Y and Z for every point and the RMSE for each group.
Checkpoints are what you defend in front of a client. GCP residuals show how well the block fits the control you gave it; checkpoint residuals show how well it predicts points it never saw. Spread both across the site, including the corners and any elevation extremes. Drone GCP covers layout and counts in detail.
Terrain model and contours for CAD
Photogrammetry measures the visible surface. The DSM includes roofs, vehicles, stockpiles and vegetation. Ground classification separates the bare earth and builds the DTM, which is what contours are drawn from.
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Contours at the interval you set, exported as DXF with elevation on each polyline, or as SHP for GIS
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DTM and DSM as GeoTIFF for civil design and GIS software
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Elevation profiles along any line, straight in the browser
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Orthomosaic as a GeoTIFF underlay for the linework
Dense vegetation is the honest limit. Photogrammetry cannot see through a canopy, so wooded areas need field shots or a lidar flight. Photogrammetry vs lidar explains when each one wins.
What drives survey accuracy
Accuracy is set in the field more than in the software. Four things decide it.
- Ground sampling distance: lower altitude gives finer pixels and tighter results. Plan it with the ground sampling distance calculator.
- Overlap: more images per ground point means a stronger block, especially on low texture surfaces.
- Control: the number, spread and quality of GCPs and checkpoints.
- Targets: clear, well sized targets measured by a known method.
Accuracy is often quoted as a multiple of GSD, with vertical looser than horizontal. The numbers that count are the checkpoint residuals on your own job. Drone mapping accuracy goes through the factors one by one.
Deliverables your client and designer can open
| Deliverable | Format | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Terrain model (DTM) | GeoTIFF | Civil designer, GIS |
| Contours | DXF, SHP | CAD drafter, GIS |
| Orthomosaic | GeoTIFF, KML | Designer, owner, field crew |
| Point cloud | LAS, LAZ | Survey QA, modelling |
| Accuracy report | Project file, client | |
| View link | Browser | Anyone on the project |
For earthworks jobs, the same surveys feed cut and fill against a design surface on construction drone software, and the photogrammetry behind all of it is described on photogrammetry software.
Test a flight before the crew leaves site
Drop a few photos from your last flight into the demo. It reads their metadata only and shows camera, altitude, GSD, footprint and estimated overlap, so a weak flight is caught on site, not back at the office.
The plan that fits survey work
Survey work needs the ground control accuracy report, contours and point clouds, which start on Team at $249 per month or $2,490 per year. Team includes 15,000 processed images a month, two jobs in parallel, 10 seats and 500 GB of storage. Details on drone mapping pricing.
Drone survey software FAQ
You choose the horizontal system by EPSG code, including State Plane zones in US survey feet and UTM zones in meters. Control coordinates and outputs use the system you select.
It depends on site size, shape and terrain. A common starting point for a small site is five GCPs spread around the edges and centre, plus a few checkpoints. Larger or long corridor sites need more.
Yes. Points marked as checkpoints are kept out of the adjustment, and the report lists their residuals in X, Y and Z and the RMSE separately from the GCPs.
Yes. Contours export as DXF with the elevation on each polyline, and as SHP for GIS, on Team and above.
For open ground, stockpiles and earthworks, a controlled drone survey gives dense, repeatable surfaces. Under trees, and for features that need a surveyor's judgement, field shots are still part of the job.
Deliver your next topographic survey from Dronemapping
Control, checkpoints, terrain model and contours in one project, shared with the client by link.