How do you get started in Drone Mapping career?

[Drerock 3000]

How do you get started in Drone Mapping? Do you go to an employer for entry level training? Do you go to a training class then go seek jobs?
Can you learn on your own and still be able to turn this into a career?
DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2
FAA Part 107 Pilot

Thanks in adavanced!

 

[Outta Control]

I would recommend to start learning about GIS concepts.

 

[R Martin]

How do you get started in Drone Mapping? Do you go to an employer for entry level training? Do you go to a training class then go seek jobs?
Thanks in advance!

At a minimum I would recommend a certificate in GIS or preferably a degree in either applied GIS or surveying. That will give you the absolute basics to make you dangerous. You might find an employer to take you under their wing in the construction industry but most positions I am aware of require degrees.

 

[Outta Control]

At a minimum I would recommend a certificate in GIS or preferably a degree in either applied GIS or surveying. That will give you the absolute basics to make you dangerous. You might find an employer to take you under their wing in the construction industry but most positions I am aware of require degrees.

Based on my research, obtaining an GIS cert is a long and demanding process. Also working in construction, may find you obtaining further outside certs.

Some food for thought is that more and more industries are learning about drone utilization and are establishing standards to separate the "do-all" from the more focused operators.

 

[JustinR]

Using a drone for mapping requires that you or a co-worker are a licensed surveyor. If not, the data you produce will not be usable in a professional setting. I would recommend partnering up with an older surveyor who does not want to learn drone tech. Also, GIS is a must. By combining both these disciplines, you might be able to advertise and produce a product people will want.

 

[R Martin]

Based on my research, obtaining an GIS cert is a long and demanding process. Also working in construction, may find you obtaining further outside certs.

Some food for thought is that more and more industries are learning about drone utilization and are establishing standards to separate the "do-all" from the more focused operators.

A GIS cert is a two year program at a community college which is the least expensive route to take. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to have an understanding of the process and how to arrive at an end product that is marketable....not just a pretty piece of paper.

 

[R Martin]

Using a drone for mapping requires that you or a co-worker are a licensed surveyor. If not, the data you produce will not be usable in a professional setting. I would recommend partnering up with an older surveyor who does not want to learn drone tech. Also, GIS is a must. By combining both these disciplines, you might be able to advertise and produce a product people will want.

Mapping and surveying are two different beast. In most states in order for you to claim survey accuracy you need to be an RPLS or its equivalent. Mapping is at a lessor degree of accuracy.I perform a mapping service with near-survey grade accuracy. I can reach survey grade accuracy but I am not a register public land surveyor so I cannot stamp and certify the final product.
The laws of each state vary so it is up to the individual to be informed of the laws in your state or area of operation prior to doing the work.

 

[Outta Control]

A GIS cert is a two year program at a community college which is the least expensive route to take. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to have an understanding of the process and how to arrive at an end product that is marketable....not just a pretty piece of paper.

In some states, you don’t have to be a cert surveyor. An example is when a game developer need a rough DSM of a terrain but you also can have a cert surveyor with you to guide you.

 

[JustinR]

Mapping and surveying are two different beast. In most states in order for you to claim survey accuracy you need to be an RPLS or its equivalent. Mapping is at a lessor degree of accuracy.I perform a mapping service with near-survey grade accuracy. I can reach survey grade accuracy but I am not a register public land surveyor so I cannot stamp and certify the final product.
The laws of each state vary so it is up to the individual to be informed of the laws in your state or area of operation prior to doing the work.

So basically what I said...in order to produce a professional map, you need to be a surveyor or have a surveyor on staff. What good is a map in a professional setting if it can't be stamped? If he had asked about ag data or gaming data, my answer would have been different. He asked about mapping.

 

[AerialCS]

So basically what I said...in order to produce a professional map, you need to be a surveyor or have a surveyor on staff. What good is a map in a professional setting if it can't be stamped? If he had asked about ag data or gaming data, my answer would have been different. He asked about mapping.

I'm slightly out of the group here but you definitely dont need a surveyor's license, gis certs, or extensive education. I've surveyed and mapped over 10000 acres in 2018 and have none of the above. Granted, I have two college degrees...one in Construction management and one in geology so I guess I "get it" when it comes to most of the jargon, processes, information and needed deliverables...but if you're interested...dive into some GIS understanding, learn about ground points, get an introduction account with a service like drone deploy and get out there and start getting some experience mapping anything...then offer your services with a strict disclaimer that you are "building, training and learning" and that your deliverables wont be "legal"..you'd be surprised how much you learn and develop through just getting outside and learning about this area of drone technology. Full disclosure...its a wide spectrum of information and experience needed so dont he overwhelmed..but it is very rewarding and fun to do. Cheers

 

[Clinton Carman]

I have the exact same drone and I've mapped about 6,000 acres so far this year and am processing another hundred acres as I type this. I am a Fire Investigator and was originally using my drone to document fire scenes. Then I got called to a Wildfire and asked to document several thousand acres right out of the gate. The client wanted to see what portion of their land was burned and what wasn't. Overall I was able to give them 0.8in/px GSD accuracy over their entire property in the steep terrain of the mountains, but did not claim the elevation data was accurate. I don't have any formal GIS training but I didn't need survey-grade accuracy for that project.

The way I learned was reading articles and talking to other operators and surveyors about various concepts. I played around with different drone apps to see which ones I liked, which ones I didn't, which ones had terrain following capability, etc. Then once I had the data I did the same for the processing options. Some programs are much more expensive than others, but have much more capability. Wish you luck, if you have more specific questions come on back.

 

[John Githens]

I think that in this discussion thread it is important to be clear about the key differences between Licensed Surveying and other activities that include a programmable drone (and a lot more). I am not a Licensed Surveyor, so I stay away from representing my work as "surveying", so as not to imply that my work or output is that of a Licensed Surveyor. I'm not yet convinced that even using the term "mapping" is a good idea, since "a map" to a Licensed Surveyor may imply something that shows descriptions of property boundaries or Surveyed monuments. "3D Geospatial Modeling" (without or with Analysis) is a term that might carry the least risk.

It appears that in rural areas, much (but not all) of a Licensed Surveyor's work is about identifying legal points on the ground, marking legal points on the ground, and otherwise clarifying/resolving property boundaries. Because of differing terrain, some physical areas can include portions that cannot be easily (read: safely, quickly, at low cost) reached by a Surveyor with measuring and marking equipment. Some areas, like shorelines and tide flats, are not conducive to establishing lasting monuments. Dense forests can be difficult, even dangerous to move through. Then there are areas with cliffs, gullies, large holes, wildfires, unfriendly critters...

That said, there are a growing number of applications of drones that *should* not raise concerns by a Licensed Surveyor. Maybe we should call it "Low-altitude GIS" work, to differentiate from satellite-image GIS work.

If you haven't already, check out Greg Crutsinger's volunteer work here (with many others and their drones).

 

[DavidRansier]

From a pure learning perspective, irrespective of licensing and certification requirements of your state, Udemy.com is offering a 3-part Land Survey Drone course. I believe it is still offering Black Friday pricing of 90% off of all their courses. I’m currrently finishing Part 1, about to start Part 2.

I’ve done other Udemy courses and found the transcripts accompanying the course to be really bad. These instructors did a great job. It won’t get you a license, but it will give a solid introduction to what you need to be able to do.

 

[R Martin]

So basically what I said...in order to produce a professional map, you need to be a surveyor or have a surveyor on staff. What good is a survey in a professional setting if it can't be stamped? Maps don't require a surveyor to stamp them

You are confusing mapping with surveying. There is a difference.

 

[R Martin]

In some states, you don’t have to be a cert surveyor. An example is when a game developer need a rough DSM of a terrain but you also can have a cert surveyor with you to guide you.

That would be a map....not a survey.

 

[Drerock 3000]

I will start with studying GIS and check my state requiremnts for survey work.
Everyone has been a great help! Thanks!!

 

[John Githens]

I will start with studying GIS and check my state requiremnts for survey work.
Everyone has been a great help! Thanks!!

"GIS" is a large topic. While it was probably not the best approach, I dived in by using image collections from "mapping" flights to do experiments with trial offers from Pix4D and Global Mapper. A more efficient approach might have been to first wade in with ArcGIS. If serving the construction industry is important, you could also take a look at 3DR's trial offer.

 

[JustinR]

You are confusing mapping with surveying. There is a difference.

Not confusing the two, I'm involved with both. To me, when you say mapping, you are creating a map to be used professionally. I have been using GIS for close to 20 years now...but I still can't go out and create data with my drone without a licensed surveyor putting his signature on it. That is all I'm saying. I guess it all just depends on what you are using the data for. If it is just purely visual, like tracking construction progress or getting yield percentages from a crop, then fly away. If it is for an actual map, hence, "mapping", you'll have to be more specific on what data is being produced and what you are using it for. A mapping or surveying class for a few days does not make a surveyor or a professional map of data.

 

[R Martin]

Not confusing the two, I'm involved with both. To me, when you say mapping, you are creating a map to be used professionally. I have been using GIS for close to 20 years now...but I still can't go out and create data with my drone without a licensed surveyor putting his signature on it. That is all I'm saying. I guess it all just depends on what you are using the data for. If it is just purely visual, like tracking construction progress or getting yield percentages from a crop, then fly away. If it is for an actual map, hence, "mapping", you'll have to be more specific on what data is being produced and what you are using it for. A mapping or surveying class for a few days does not make a surveyor or a professional map of data.

Mapping for me is centimeter grade and doesn't require a stamp. Its good for utility work. I do my own benchmarks with survey-grade equipment but do not need survey-grade accuracy. Survey grade is tighter accuracy and stamped for engineering purposes or title transfers. That is the standard I operate with.