INDUSTRY ISSUES
Drones: The Sky’s the Limit
Working With
By Jill Odom
SLOWLY, BUT SURELY technology is being integrated into the industry and one interesting tool some landscape companies are exploring is drones. While drones were originally used for military purposes, they have migrated to the civilian world and are used by everyone from hobbyists to businesses. “As you dive into the drone industry at large, you’ll quickly discover it is huge and growing fast, and very excit- ing the range of possibilities it opens
up!” says Graham Pellettieri, technol- ogy director and project manager for Pellettieri Associates, Inc., based in Warner, New Hampshire. “It has caused us to think very differently about the design process. We used to use a land surveyor to kick off our design process, but now sometimes we’re replacing (or augmenting) that survey with a drone capture of the property, and it has improved our deliverables to the clients and sped up our process.”
BENEFITS OF USING DRONES FOR LANDSCAPING JOBS Pellettieri says using drones helps provide a fresh perspective on the property as they allow you to see the property in a higher overall context. “We find capturing a bird’s eye view photo of the property gives you a very helpful reference for design planning – one that is more detailed and updat- ed than say a Google Maps image,” Pellettieri says.
He says this can help with docu- menting existing site conditions, deter- mine relational aspects of one area of the property to other areas and provide a visual aid for design discussions. “Customers are increasingly accus- tomed to having comprehensive visual data,” says Jeff Brooks, COO of Map- ware. “If the customer has to imagine a space or view it on a 2D map, you’re really relying on their mental image to help close a deal or explain progress
on a project. If they can just see it and click around for themselves, all the work of explaining, correcting (or worse, resetting) expectations goes away.” Pellettieri says photo and video are only one aspect of drone use in the landscape. “We’re diving even deeper by doing full-blown 2D detailed mapping with annotations, 3D photogrammetry modeling that provides topography and building information, and even capturing sensor-based drone data (such as thermal imaging) that can be used to assess things like plant health, solar exposure, and soil temperatures,” he says.
He says LIDAR (a method for determining ranges using a laser) is also gaining traction for detailed land surveying. “The sky is the limit when it comes to drones!” Pellettieri says.
IN-HOUSE OPERATION COSTS If you decide to operate the drones in- house, here are some of the elements you need to take into account. “Many people think you’re just buying a drone and starting to fly it, but in reality, there is a lot of preparation, research and development time to inte- grate drone usage effectively into your existing operations,” says Pellettieri. While the size and extent of your drone program will vary, there are a
Using drones can help
get a bird’s-eye view. Photo: Pellettieri Associates, Inc.
14 The and cape
14 The Landscape Professionalrofessiional // uly/August 202 he Landscape Prof ss ona //JJu y Augus
July/August 2021 021
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