Case Studies

Learn how the Falcon Eye Drone Systems (FEDS) team used senseFly eBee X drones to map the largest limestone quarry in the world—all within a single day, capturing more data than ever before possible.

Discover how Tri-Tech Surveys achieved 4km of crisp, clear corridor mapping imagery in a single morning with eBee X and S.O.D.A. Corridor.

Discovering new, thousands of years old, archaeological sites is all in a days work for fixed-wing drones. A drone survey of Canna and Sanday Islands collected 420 million data points, creating what may be the most detailed 3-D map of islands yet.

When Julien Lieb of Corvus Monitoring used an eBee to map a large section of Swiss highway, the results helped the road authority and local government to solve a dispute over who owned the route’s trees.

GRAHAM Construction took to the skies to optimise the efficiency of its new large road contract and to improve the safety of its quarry surveys.

Oakland University professor Jon Carroll, Ph.D., is using drone technology to help Malawian farmers boost crop production amid challenges posed by climate change.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using a senseFly eBee drone (or UAS) for topographic mapping in Afghanistan.

A Czech NGO called People in Need is working with provincial and national authorities in Cambodia to reduce preventable deaths from flooding through better drone-based mapping practices.

This study presents methods for using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to conduct population assessments. Using a fixed-wing UAS and a modified strip-transect method, they conducted aerial surveys along a 3 km track line at Ostional, Costa Rica during a mass-nesting event of olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea).

How one Swiss vineyard and an agricultural engineering organisation are using a senseFly UAV to produce a tastier crop.

How accurate is drone surveying for determining stockpile volumes? This report compares UAV and LIDAR imagery to see how they match up.

A leading Basque winemaker employed senseFly drone data to optimise its yield, closing its harvest with an additional 11,000 bottles (an annual increase of 17%). Article in Spanish.

Dr. Berezovskiy’s team at Timiryazev State Agragrian University used an eBee farming drone to capture high-resolution imagery of their wheat fertilisation project. The subsequent application map allowed them to optimise their nitrogen application, reducing its input by 20%.

This paper analyses several UAV datasets, in particular their geospatial accuracy, concluding that drone technology “can compete with traditional mapping solutions”.

Learn how an international team of glacial hydrologists used senseFly drone technology to overcome the limitations (and dangers) of traditional data collection methods.

Timothée Produit of EPFL’s LASIG lab and colleague Matthew Parkan explain how they used Drone Adventures’ multi-spectral drone imagery to create vegetation base maps.

Read how the UK town of Sidmouth’s seagulls were joined by a senseFly drone as part of East Devon District Council’s coastal erosion monitoring project.

The Canadian Business Journal talks with Warren Genik of AgSky Technologies about the eBee-based services the company offers farmers in the region.

Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, the director of the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL), explains how his team used an eBee to map ice jams and flood conditions in the spring of 2015.

Topographic mapping with drones doesn’t get more challenging than flying over remote, windy islands without disturbing the birds, as one team of climate change researchers discovered.

When Energizer Resources needed to survey a large graphite mine site in Madagascar, its team purchased two senseFly drones to avoid the expense of airborne Lidar. That just left the issue of disappearing control points to deal with…

When COWI was employed to map 125 sq. km in remotest Greenland, its staff took two drones into the field: a long-range UAV system and a backup eBee. When the larger system developed technical issues, the senseFly proved its mettle.

Awarded the Turkish government’s first UAV survey contract, Artu Harita used an eBee to map a 140 km-long rail corridor — impressing its client and outperformed its traditional surveying counterparts.

Awarded the Turkish government’s first UAV survey contract, Artu Harita used an eBee to map a 140 km-long rail corridor — impressing its client and outperformed its traditional surveying counterparts.

When the Serbian government urgently needed to map water damage at the Kolubara lignite pit, it turned to GeoGIS Consultants, whose team used an eBee to provide the client’s deliverables in a matter of days.

Tasked with a large and topographically challenging survey near Quito in Ecuador, AOC Ingeniería used an eBee UAV to collect its point data. But the terrain wasn’t the only problem its team faced.

This European Commission report finds that compared to satellite imaging sources, unmanned aerial platforms offer “significant benefits due to their higher flexibility in deployment, potentially better timeliness and more advanced technical capabilities”.

One for French speakers: France 3 Picardie’s video report on the Chamber of Agriculture’s eBee drone use.

French farmer Jean Baptiste Bruggeman details his in-depth testing of his Airinov-supplied senseFly drone platform.

The founder of the Humanitarian UAV Network, Patrick Meier, explains how drones are helping communities around the world respond to disasters.

This Honors College Thesis examines how stereo imagery obtained by a senseFly UAS can be used to respond to natural disasters, by estimating volumes “on a par with terrestrial LiDAR sensor technology”.

This Directions Magazine article provides a starter overview of drone (UAV) technology and its huge potential for GIS applications.

Read how the Cayman Islands government joined forces with Kew Gardens’ GIS team to locate a mysterious Mistletoe species using Kew’s senseFly UAV.

Read how the Cayman Islands government joined forces with Kew Gardens’ GIS team to locate a mysterious Mistletoe species using Kew’s senseFly UAV.

Read how Drone Adventures helped Pro Natura, a Swiss conservation non-profit, with a unique biodiversity project – using drones to produce orthomosaics and terrain models of an ancient peat bog in need of regeneration.

When the U.K. Environment Agency needed a partner to calculate beach volumes, it turned to UAV experts ATEC-3D to carry out a volume survey with its eBee before the tide came in.

McCain Murray ran a full survey and accuracy assessment with a senseFly eBee drone, finding it “capable of generating products with accuracies that meet the expected relationship with survey GSD and NSSDA standards”.

Chilean geomatics specialist Geospacio became the first organisation to drone map an active volcano, flying its eBee over Chile’s Villarrica volcano two days after it erupted, then again eighteen days later.

Read how the spatial analysis team at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) used a senseFly swinglet CAM to map the active flow front of Kilauea Volcano’s lava flow on Hawai‘i Island.

Learn how the Portuguese Polar program (PROPOLAR) – the first organization to acquire a senseFly UAV (called Suzanne Deveau) with crowdsourcing fundraising – uses eBee in the coldest areas of the world. (Article in Portuguese.)

Read how drone technology is booming in Canada, including an interview with Cenovus Energy’s geospatial specialist Wade Ewen.

senseFly drone operator Cormac Loughran, a UK-based ecological consultant, discusses how he sees his UAV improving his work.

senseFly drone operator Cormac Loughran, a UK-based ecological consultant, discusses how he sees his UAV improving his work.

Published in July 2015 in Remote Sensing, this peer-reviewed study details how acquiring high spatial and temporal resolution imagery with drones provides new opportunities for taking small-scale forest inventories.

Published in July 2015 in Remote Sensing, this peer-reviewed study details how acquiring high spatial and temporal resolution imagery with drones provides new opportunities for taking small-scale forest inventories.

How Drone Adventures and Medair used mapping drones to aid reconstruction in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.

Adam Klaptocz of Drone Adventures and senseFly explains how autonomous mapping drones (UAVs) can help NGOs and similar organisations to make better decisions.

Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne of the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Laboratory explains how drones can be used to produce GIS-ready 2D and 3D products to support decisions in transportation.

Read how Drone Adventures mapped over 45 sq. km of territory during six days of intense work to provide international organisations with the up-to-date data they required.

This in-depth ‘Occasional Policy Paper’ was published in June 2014 by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (‪OCHA‬).

Learn how the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) employed senseFly drones to analyse the potential benefits and usage of UAVs in mine action.

Read how Drone Adventures mapped over 45 sq. km of territory during six days of intense work to provide international organisations with the up-to-date data they required.

Learn how Lithuanian GIS specialist Hnit-Baltic used an eBee drone to map fire damage on Lithuania’s protected Curonian Spit.

Mapping a pipeline from Bolgatanga, Ghana to Bingo, Burkina Faso using a senseFly eBee drone‬.

Chilean photogrammetry provider WSdata3D used an eBee to calculate volume extraction at one of the world’s largest open pit mines, ensuring operator safety and boosting efficiency.

Explore Survey Group’s eBee RTK drone survey of the 250 km Talawana Track road, where complex logistics, dusty terrain and bird attacks were successfully overcome.  Read it here.

Texas sand and gravel quarry, Vista Sand, on how it employs its senseFly eBee and the drone applications that continue unfolding as various internal teams gain exposure to this technology.

This GIM International article describes how senseFly UAVs were used for a preliminary engineering survey of two remote, mountainous sites in remotest northern Canada.

WSP’s team describes a stockpile measurement contract it completed using UAV technology, including how the accuracy of its results compared to traditional methods.

Barritt Lovelace of Collins Engineers and Jennifer Zink of the Minnesota Department of Transport (MnDOT) Bridge Office detail their joint multiphase UAV research project.

When it faced the challenge of low-quality topographic maps, BluMetric Environmental’s team turned to its senseFly eBee to perform environmental assessments in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

An in-depth conversation with Aidan O’Connor of ASM Ireland. Aidan is one of the country’s most knowledgeable commercial drone operators, with particularly extensive experience in the field of quarry surveying.

An in-depth conversation with Aidan O’Connor of ASM Ireland. Aidan is one of the country’s most knowledgeable commercial drone operators, with particularly extensive experience in the field of quarry surveying.

Learn how drones are being used to help save one of the world’s most beautiful eco-systems, in Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania, which is world famous for its coastline and mangrove forests.

Explore how the Tanzanian operation of building materials leader LaFargeHolcim employs senseFly eBee drones to optimise the efficiency of its cement plant and limestone quarry.

How can drones benefit farmers in Africa? AgriBusiness TV visited the pineapple farm of Joshua Ayinbora, a young Ghanian farmer, for a demonstration on the use of senseFly UAVs.

When Duke University researchers wanted to try counting seals with a drone, they headed to Canada with eBees and several cameras. The results confirmed UAVs can help save time and money, and highlighted the promise of thermal imaging.

When training a new drone customer, Norbert Plate of iQlaser employed the client’s new eBee to assess the health of his peanut crop.

An info-packed webinar by Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne of the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab. He details his experience using senseFly eBee drones to create GIS-ready maps and models.

The team at Drone Adventures on mapping St-Joseph atoll in the Seychelles and using the drone’s high-resolution aerial images to identify shark and ray pups.

The team at Drone Adventures on mapping St-Joseph atoll in the Seychelles and using the drone’s high-resolution aerial images to identify shark and ray pups.

Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne of the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab describes the pros, cons and suitability of LiDAR and drone point clouds.

What happens when you mix ancient Bushmen knowledge with the latest in drone technology? Drone Adventures joined these worlds to explore a new way of counting wildlife.

This presentation by Mapali, IRD & SEAS-OI and Mahidol University explores the potential applications of UAVs in the emergency response field.

Drone Adventures, EPFL’s LASIG lab and Kuzikus Wildlife Reserve joined forces in the southern African savanna to push the limits of civilian drone use for nature conservation.

This free-to-download Remote Sensing study describes how RGB and NIR sensors, carried on a senseFly drone, were applied to the trophic state mapping of Tain-Pu reservoir in Kinmen, Taiwan.

Michael Bender of Golder Associates discusses using drone-sourced imagery to monitor tailings storage facilities (article starts page 26).

When MWH Geo-Surveys International needed to conduct a micro-gravity survey of an Omani mine site, the company’s senseFly drone was the only solution it trusted to produce the high-res elevation model required.

Each year, Australian UAV undertakes a drone survey of the Lake Victoria shoreline. This immense heritage project brings with it three key challenges: big birds, even bigger datasets and lots of very fine sand.

By flying mapping drones in Oman, consultant Julien Guery helped the French Archaeological Mission to Adam survey much faster than it had previously and to identify previously undiscovered archaeological structures.

The World Bank teamed up with Drone Adventures, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap and the Tanzanian Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH) to conduct urban mapping projects using senseFly eBee drones

The World Bank teamed up with Drone Adventures, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap and the Tanzanian Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH) to conduct urban mapping projects using senseFly eBee drones.

In early 2016, senseFly took part in a European Commission project, tasked with assessing the value of drones in search and rescue situations. The trials were challenging, but the results encouraging.

Drone Adventures joined the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University (NYU) and the Austrian Archaeological Institute to chart ancient theatres and temples in southern Turkey.

Drone Adventures joined the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University (NYU) and the Austrian Archaeological Institute to chart ancient theatres and temples in southern Turkey.

A team of aerial mappers from Drone Adventures spent two weeks in the wild Namibian bush drone-mapping savanna, sand and rock for land and wildlife conservation.

A team of aerial mappers from Drone Adventures spent two weeks in the wild Namibian bush drone-mapping savanna, sand and rock for land and wildlife conservation.

What is the current state of Fukishima’s cleanup and reconstruction effort? Drone Adventures teamed up with researcher Taichi Furuhashi to try to answer this question aerially.

The Municipal District of Taber employed Ventus Geospatial to provide its survey data for a new shooting facility construction. Ventus’ eBee drone achieved low GSDs and remarkable vertical accuracy, more quickly than conventional surveying could achieve.

Learn how Canadian company Diavik Diamond Mine, via its supplier Ollerhead & Associates, employed two senseFly eBee drones to survey its latest expansion project.

David Johnston, an assistant professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, discusses the reasons behind his organisation’s switch from chartering planes to using UAVs.

This study, published in Remote Sensing, carried out three drone monitoring campaigns at a French lagoon-inlet system. The results “open new perspectives to validate detailed morphological predictions”.

J.L. Patterson & Associates surveyed a 30-mile rail corridor with an eBee RTK. Its team reported “phenomenal” data accuracy, completed the job in a quarter of the time of terrestrial surveying, and at half the cost of manned aerial services.

Greg Gravesen is an experienced traffic accident reconstruction specialist. In this interview he explains how using a fixed-wing eBee drone has revolutionised his work.

Learn how Bernie Jess, a land surveyor based in Edmonton, Alberta, has been sending off UAVs to tackle large site development surveys in place of using terrestrial instruments.

Martin Azkarate of the European Space Agency discusses his work developing rover prototypes for planetary exploration, including how he employs a senseFly drone to test these cutting-edge robots.

The World Bank is implementing a $12 USD million real estate and cadastre project in Kosovo to help the government produce a national cadastre system and geospatial data infrastructure.

senseFly’s albris inspection drone was employed at the Tseuzier dam (156 m) in Switzerland in order to produce a high-resolution photographic record of the structure’s downstream face.

senseFly’s albris inspection drone was employed at the Tseuzier dam (156 m) in Switzerland in order to produce a high-resolution photographic record of the structure’s downstream face.

Spanish drone service company Drone by Drone monitors its clients’ crops from the air using senseFly drones. This approach enables the better, more localised management of each individual plot. Article in Spanish.

An innovative pilot project by COSTECH and World Bank Group is using senseFly eBee drones to carry out aerial land surveys in order to issue farmers with land titles.

OCEALIA Group has used senseFly drones and AIRINOV’s agronomy expertise since 2015 to better assess and more accurately treat its crops. The result: a 10% average increase in crop yields.

Learn how BluMetric Environmental used an eBee drone to perform environmental assessments in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

When awarded a time-sensitive post-hurricane inspection project, Aerial Applications turned to the eBee to quickly build a fleet of easy-to-operate, data-consistent drones.

Learn how a drone survey of the Ballina ‘canal stretch’ of the River Moy was used to determine the extent of pond weeds, providing data from which the surface of raised sediment could be calculated and a 3D profile of the river banks created.

Learn how astron uses senseFly UAVs to complement its invasive species mapping, producing valuable fine-scale vegetation maps of large areas to direct its ground efforts.

French quarry operator, Groupe CB, turned to drone data analytics expert Redbird to provide accurate geospatial data across nine sites. The result: a major improvement in on-site safety, a 5X reduction in survey costs, and an increase in the depth of Groupe CB’s topographic data.