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In today’s blog, we are basically going to discuss all the questions regarding the contour survey. All this time we have been talking about drone usage in different things, in different fields, and in different ways. But, today we are going to have a question and answer session where we are going to clear all your doubts regarding the contour survey. By now we already know it is a drone survey and how drones basically collect information via aerial photography and tell us about the region that is getting surveyed and how the area is and the various different features of the same. So let’s dive into all the possible the questions about contour Survey.

What are Contours?

Before understanding, what is the contour survey we first need to understand what Are contour lines. Accordingly, a contour line, is a line that joins places of similar height. This is basically a diagrammatic representation of how the topography basically is with the help of lines that join places of similar height. Contour lines are also called isotypes, isolines, isopleths, or isarithm.

What Is a Contour Survey?

A contour to survey is basically an easy, visually understanding, vertical and horizontal diagrammatic representation of the region that is under survey. By understanding account to the survey that has been conducted, one can understand how low or high the region is. Which part of the region is high or which part of the region is low, will eventually help us understand the flow of water over the property when it rains. It will also help us understand where the water will get collected and where the soil can possibly erode. From a contour survey, one can determine flow models, stream maps, silt traps, maps, etc. A contour survey done by a drone basically helps in analyzing the entire region and provides the proper elevation of each and every point on the ground.

What is easier a registered survey or a contour survey via drone? 

Generally, any registered surveyor will take around a week or a few days to basically survey the entire region and will produce the data with the most accuracy with-an error of 5mm. On the contrary, drawn services are an aerial method of scanning the ground, and providing data with maximum accuracy is a little error of 15-25mm. The major constraint that lies in the entire process that differentiates drone service from registered service is that drones always happen faster as compared to the registered ones. Not only is a drone contour survey faster but it is also cheaper as compared to a normally registered survey. While or registered surveyor still collecting data on the ground, the drones have collected the data and have also processed the same in the least available time.

Why are contour surveys so important and what is the best and most precise way to do so?

Both LIDAR and photogrammetry. Aerial contour survey techniques provide a reasonable degree of accuracy. Carrying out either one of them helps in producing better results. Generally, an area with less than 50% vegetation is processed with the help of photogrammetry techniques. While those with more vegetation cover or perform with LIDAR. Contour surveys are important because they help in building and elevation data which is extremely necessary to plan and build construction projects and understand the region. [caption id="attachment_1508" align="aligncenter" width="401"] Contour line of Hill[/caption] Contour surveys help in calculating the amount of soil present or the one that needs to be added or removed for a perfect site of the construction plan, and to understand and verify the terraforming of the land that completely fits with the engineered design. 

How do you read a contour survey?

A contour map in serving basically illustrates the elevation differences across the entire region from the lowest point to the highest one. The farther the lines are from each other. The shallow or the rise or fall on the terrain is possible. Contour lines in serving help in denoting the topographic data at the intervals mentioned. For example, a contour map and serving might have intervals down to 0.25 m, but this can be calculated into contours down to 10 cm on lightly undulating lands. Now given below are some major points that need to be taken into consideration while reading a contour survey-

• Widely spaced contour lines indicates flat terrain land contours
• Closely spaced contour lines indicates steep terrain land contours
• Irregular contour lines indicate uneven surface of contour line in contour surveying.
• Concentric closed contour lines with increasing values towards center indicates a hill or elevated terrain
• Concentric closed contour lines with decreasing values towards center indicates a pond or water body
• Contour lines with U-shape convexity indicates ridge in contour mapping
• Contour lines with V-shaped convexity indicates valley in contour mapping
• When contour lines cross each other, it indicates existence of overhanging cliffs or a cave
• When contour lines are meeting in some portion, it indicates existence of a vertical cliff

How do you get a contour mapping in surveying?

 Contours help in providing information that helps us study the nature of the terrain and provides accurate information on the selection of the site. It also helps in determining areas of catchment, drainage, basins, flow, models, and inter-visibility between two or more stations. Let’s understand each and every point in detail. Contour lines are generally used to understand the terrain profile for multiple uses as follows:

• Depth of cutting and filling is decided from a contour map profile path, when desired level or elevation of road/railway is known in the contour map of surveying.
• Minimizing and balancing earthworks by deciding the routes of the railway, road, canal or sewer lines using contour line in surveying.
• Catchment area and quantity of water flow at any point of drainage areas or river is found out using contour line in surveying.
• In agricultural work, contours maps are useful as guide lines in planning of trees on hilly terrain and also land improvement project. In addition to this, drainage system is also conveniently planned with contour maps
• Initial feasibility study for Wind power or Solar Power project, for studying the terrain profile are extremely necessary in contour line in surveying process.
• Initial feasibility study for Ropeway construction, a contour map in surveying needs to be done to analyze the terrain for desired ropeway, cable car path
• Volumetric calculations are performed as required for extracting the volume of rocks, gravel of a mountain and estimate its total value when a contour map in surveying is generated. Hence, Effective Cost estimates is made available with the help of the contour maps
• Contour lines are also beneficial for Mining companies especially for calculating the volume of stocks
• Archaeological surveyors are using contour lines to get insights about history.

Now contour map in surveying is basically done with the help of drones. Contour line in serving helps in providing data in the form of high-quality images. Drones are generally used to collect such data, and the complete capture data is then aligned by area triangulation. This data is for the orthorectified and geo-referenced using ground control points information. Subsequently, the final data is then processed into creating digital elevation models, digital terrain, models, and contour lines in the survey as required for the elevation is generated. AUTHOR - Smruti Sachin Puntambekar  (Data Processing)  

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“The best shots of all times are taken aerially”

Whilst shooting of films, there are lots of equipment’s that are used. Film makers ensure that the scene is captured from all angles. The cameras are generally plotted in all sides to get the best view as well as to capture the details of the scene. There are cameras on the side, there are cameras in the air, cameras that function inside the water and even cameras that are held by people running in the same time with the actor and actress viral shorts taken. All the things are happening at the same time simultaneously. It is said that some of the best shots that have been ever taken in history are taken from the air and were a part of drone film making. The advantage is that of the elevated vantage point which a person can hardly see in day to day life which gives aerial cinematography an edge over all the other shorts that are just taken from the ground.

Aerial cinematography defined

Aerial cinematography has been stepping in the industry of films since quite a long time now. From creating movies that involve war scenes, action movies, heroic scenes, romantic intervals, and movements of aero planes and trains all the shorts are majorly shot with another camera that is a moving parallel with these movements. This is exactly where drone film making snoops in. Back in the days it was only possible for certain high rated budgeted movies from Hollywood to basically purchase drones and conduct aerial cinematography. With the advent of drone film making, drone shots have become easier to be taken by local film makers with the reduction of drone costs. Before stepping into the details of aerial cinematography, let’s understand what the meaning of the term is first. Aerial cinematography tends to hold tremendous value when it comes to drone film making and film making in general. The word basically is the use of a drone, helicopter or any device that moves in the air to take shots. Precisely from the bird’s eye view. Footage captured from elevated region heads to give a broader view of the entire region, which makes it kind of interesting to understand the different aspects of what is happening in the scene. Aerial cinematography tends to prove a point by the usage of drone shots in their process, and making all of this happen.  Due to the lack of drone availability in the past and the hiked prices of drones, it was pretty much difficult to take drone shots or aerial shots and that would help the film makers get the view. And often low-budget into film makers used to avoid shots that involved drones to cut down the price and producing films that are cost-effective. But due to the increased drone technology and this being the trend of the hour; the availability of drones in different regions at a sustainable price has led many filmmakers for opting for drone’s usage in their films. This has led to capturing more of the area in one single frame as well as giving the perspective of aerial photography to the audience and making them more indulged in the film. This is not just an audience retention technique but it also adds a unique perspective to the films. With the advancement of drone shots and aerial cinematography, drones are not only used for taking a single shot or for giving a Birdseye view. 

When is aerial cinematography best used for?

So let’s dig into some advantages of drones in filmmaking.

• Apart from just providing an aerial perspective, they have enhanced visual experiences for people who are interested in films and to film makers.
• They have reduced the cost of arranging cranes and helicopters just to take a small shot.
• They are more affordable as compare to any other device that goes up in the air to take a shot. Plus, drone shots also provide 3-axis yaw, pitch and a role stabilizing Gimbal shots which is perfect for aerial cinematography.
• Drones has a capacity to replace the language of equipment’s like that of cranes and trolleys that or once used in filmmaking.

Drone shots has become a niche in aerial cinematography, which has opened the doors for various things like-

Establishing shorts from an elevated vantage point

A shot of scenery or a perfect starry night or fireworks, need to be taken by a drone by film makers so that it establishes a perfect scene and can capture expensive landscapes. Drone shots in filmmaking are perfect when the story of the film tends to revolve around geographical aspects.

Chasing different scenes

Chasing a scene that is moving fast and away from the focus of the camera are perfect when they are captured by drone film makers. They provide a nice aerial cinematography view from an elevated vantage point. Drone shots prove out to be impressive while capturing a helicopter move or a train passing by. A small example for the same can be given from the movie Jumanji when Nick Jonas was basically flying the helicopter to rescue from the island. These scenes are perfectly taken with the help of drones as the price of the drones can match with high clarity, which you can prove to be a perfect scene, for the film makers.

Classic shot of the landscape

During the time of a war scene where there are various helicopters, flying or there is air rocket launch or torpedo and missiles that our chromatically shown in movies, are nicely captured with the help of drone shots. This becomes interesting in terms of aerial cinematography as drones become one of the perfect devices to shoot what is in the scene and creating a subjectivity for the audience and giving a point of view of people flying through helicopters or basically shooting a missile.

Giving an entire gods eye view perspective

It is like capturing a proposal or a romantic scene from above, which gives oh god’s eye view making all this tremendously out of the box and dramatic for people watching the film. Apart from the drone’s usage, strictly restricted to films, there are various different things in which drone shots have started to encroach and have set their camp. Few of these fields are real estate photography, wedding photography, advertising, news, and documentary making. Let’s understand each of them in detail to get a different perspective.  When it comes to real estate photography, the details of a building or a tower can be captured by drone shots, which quickly becomes effective and adds as great marketing of real estate. It is observed that real estate aerial cinematography proves out for a better listing in the market as drone shots proved to be an edge over basic video or photography.

The era of the drone

Another important field that drones are captured is wedding photography. Weddings are captured from an elevated height, just to provide the dramatic and filmy element as well as capturing all the people involved in the wedding from a greater height.  Journalism has also taken a toll ever since aerial cinematography has stepped in the field of news. Many organizations and news companies have started to include drone shots to get exact on-site reports. This has also helped in making journalists, covering all the possible conflicts, natural disasters, human disasters, immediately at the time of occurring with the help of the ease of drones. Covering a story, the time it is happening has majorly become the focus of news channels ever since drones have started to make their way into the industry. The advertising sector has also been benefited with all the drone shots as drones allow to capture images and displays of ads in a cost-effective way.  We understand that aerial cinematography has become an important part and parcel of film making and in the life of film makers; drone shots contribute tremendously in making films, film makers a great success as well as providing a point of view from an elevated height.  Read more: :- Drones in Logistics :- Drones in farming AUTHOR - Smruti Sachin Puntambekar  (Data Processing)  

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Bill gates rightly quoted, Drones overall will be more impactful than I think people recognize in positive ways to help the society. 

Logistic industry is basically a chain which involves two major processes. This involves the material reaching the logistics center and the material that is getting dispatched from the logistic center to the person who has ordered. The drone technology is a major league seen in the latter process where the deliverables are and reach the consumers. Let’s dive into the details of how the process generally takes place and its various advantages and the uses of drones in logistics ever since drones have started to make this industry a better place to work in. Firstly, let’s understand what is a good logistic system. Any supply chain that works efficiently without using too much money to produce better and efficient results as well as delivering things on time is known as good logistics. With the advent of drones, good logistics graph has basically increased. This is happening majorly because drones do not indulge in any kind of traffic, and can deliver at various different places in lesser amount of time as compare to manual movements. Globally drones have been used in various different fields like that of agriculture, defense, forestry, mining and other major activities to prove the inspections right and produce accurate results. When it comes to logistics, drones, basically step in the last processes. Drones basically functions as a part of transportation of merchandise from the nearest possible hub to the final destination. To incur the process of last mile delivery. This involves delivering in high terrain, rugged topography and in areas which are difficult and out of human reach.

Advantages of having drones in logistics-

Drones don’t work in shifts. They are operational 24 x 7. If all these processes were to happen manually, people do not function in all hours of the day. But when it comes to drones, the process is not time bound. A delivery can happen at night with the same speed the way it would happen in the morning. Understanding that drones or not working at a certain period of time the logistic industry has basically understood that deliveries need not happen between 11 to 7 but can happen at all times of the day and the urgency of the people’s needs can be met immediately. Indoor flying of drones can help in checking stock.  Manual checking of stocks gets difficult after a point but scanning the entire warehouse with the help of drones makes it extremely easy to understand and analyze the amount of stock that is a left and the amount to stop that is yet to be delivered. This is a perfect method of doing inventory control in warehouses. It also tends to offer the possibility of the integration of information on the entire integral systems that involve management and analytics of artificial intelligence. Lost merchandise can be searched in places that are difficult to access. Finding things that have been lost in the processes can also be searched with the help of drones as they fly at a height which makes it easier for one to understand where is the thing has been lost because one gets a bird’s eye view. Reduction of the carbon emissions.  When one uses drones in the process of deliveries, they are basically reducing the amount of carbon emissions that are taking place with the use of fossil fuels that involve in delivery in the drone logistics ecosystem. For example, if a person has to deliver an object from one place to another, he would rather use a bike or a car which would use a lot of fuel. In case of drones, they do not use any of the fossil fuels, but they completely work on battery which become extremely eco-friendly as well as time managing and avoiding the traffic. These are some perks of drone logistics ecosystem. Reduction of the delivery cost. Entire cost of delivery can be eliminated if those can be used in the process of logistics. Delivery at the speed of the click.   As soon as the Delivery is made the process of drone operations will begin. No longer will the any person pick any item from the ware house or the delivery center; or any truck will be loaded. The package will be directly to be picked a headed to the customer.  Figure 1 Delivering Vada Pav to MostlySane

Limitations

Understanding the advantages of drones in logistics helps prove a point that the industry is only going to flourish once drones step in. Use of drones and logistics will not only prove to be a plus point but also helps a lot many people in the country to get their deliveries, faster, better and at lesser price. As we talked about the advantages of drones in logistics there are certain limitations that hinder the spread of drones in logistics. Some of these include  Tech Vulnerabilities.  Even though emerging technology has led drones in logistics, there are still parameters that curb their growth. Currently drones are only limited to small packages and minor distances. This is because drones sent at longer times can be of threat and are vulnerable to hacking. Destruction to the drones is similarly possible when there is no supervision to observe its flight. The upgradation of civilian drone technology is on its way to almost meet or enhance the advancement rates. But the silver lining to all this is that drone developers are on their journey of process to manage and solve such issues that might arise in the future.  Liability issues. Another legal specifications of drones in logistics is that it that needs time to develop the liability that tends to fall in regarding drone delivery. One needs to predict the possibility of a drone crash and the possible accidents and make sure of their insurances. The incorporation of applicability and feasibility of drones in logistics will more likely be seen. While the logistics executives certainly aren’t planning on selling their truck fleets overnight, now’s its high time to examine that there are potentialities in the progress of the same in the future of drone technology. Taking into consideration all of the uses of drones in logistics we can definitely expect certain changes in the near future  AUTHOR - Smruti Sachin Puntambekar  (Data Processing)  

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Permissions granted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have opened the doors wide open for the drone technology. Work in different industries has been tremendously reduced because of the efficiency of drones. From fastening product deliveries to reaching out to people’s needs and providing productive and effective solutions that are not just cost effective but less time consuming drones have leveled up to sore heights. Drones are not only game changers but have immensely helped in reducing dangerous threats at worksites and industries regions. 

Firstly, lets understand the concept of utilities before with respect to drone technology. An organization or a company supplying the community with electricity, gas, water, or sewerage. Sometimes, other facilities like that of internet, cable TV and phone services are tending to be considered additional utilities since they are now considered standard in most American households. When it comes to drones these are the regions where the inspections are taking place. 

Drone technology has basically escalated the graph and helped in boosting all industries including the utilities. apart from all the industries where drawn inspections are taking place and or are going to take place like we have mentioned in our earlier blog the utilities sector is definitely the one gaining more attention. This is mainly because of the difficult construction as well as the higher trains at which these things are based makes it really tough for human interaction to do inspections. When it comes to drones, they are extremely viable, helpful and accurate while doing inspections as well as providing data that is trustworthy. There are certain major reasons why the drone industry is majorly taking of in the energy sector specifically as compare to the others, let’s dive into the details of understanding why is that so.

Extremely Time Saving

Any routine, power-lines or transmission region or cables tend to cost around hundreds and thousands of dollars to any company which provides a human inspection, where lot many people are involved in inspecting each and every cell tower or each and every cable on the street. Apart from the number of people involved in this process, the total down time that takes place is also huge. If this thing needs to be done in a very easier way, drones can be used to provide advanced infections. Unlike any manual inspection, drones tend to cover some large areas in a shorter span of time. Technologies like that of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) can also be used which can basically sense the region around and also provide a detailed information or a report of the health of different lines, the vegetation surrounding and historic data. 

Mitigating Safety

in case of natural hazards like that of hurricanes and earthquakes, when the entire region gets destroyed in seconds, it gets very difficult to keep a check on the continuation of power lines or cables. Instead of sending a huge crew of people to check the situations of the cables or power lines, drones can be sent. Lightweight power lines can be transported from one place to the other with the help of drones not only saving time but also increasing the efficiency of work. This entire process becomes legit in the utility drone inspection creating wonders for various people and reducing efforts of many. 

Drones Mitigate Safety risks on Dangerous Jobs

When it comes to manual inspections, it is generally a person climbing up a tower and checking each and every bit and piece of it. But when it comes to drones, we generally have large sets of data which includes images and videos that are taken of these cables which provide proof and leave no room for any error. These images are generally the birds eye view of the serving a region which basically act as a historical data and can be compared time to time. The process of using drones in these industries basically creates an approach of being prepared ahead of time. Just like it is said prevention is better than cure; Energy companies use, this data acquired by drones to make predictive maintenance programs are the ones which set up a routine of checking these cables regularly. This approach is not only extremely worthy and educated, but it also reduces the number of extensive failure or damages that can be involved in the process if it is done manually.

Drone for Utilities: A Bright Future

Understanding that drone for utilities are going to be a bright future ahead. If worked efficiently, drone technology means to make its use effective in areas such as that of utilities. From improving safety to reducing operational cost, we are not only the scratching the surface of possibilities of the usage of drone for utilities but also making the entire process extremely efficient and worthy. It is not just the procedure of flying a drone and acquiring images and videos, but it is this software that gets involved in the later process which helps in creating wonders for the organization which looks after it. Utility drone inspection is needed in various regions to lessen the amounts of work done to as small as few minutes of drone flying. 

Let us know your views on the same by commenting below. 

Also Read:- Drones in farming

AUTHOR

- Smruti Sachin Puntambekar 

(Data Processing)