Lessons Learned Flying LiDAR and Working with Surveyors & Engineers

What I’ve learned from my experience working with surveyors and engineers flying drones

and processing data is this: flying drones using various sensors like LiDAR isn’t the difficult

part. Getting accurate, reliable, and usable deliverables is a whole different story.

When I first started out, the first couple of projects I tried LiDAR on would be off by as much

as 2 feet in certain areas. Today, after refining my workflow and learning from my mistakes,

I’m consistently getting data within a tenth of a foot. These are a few of the tips and

practices I’ve learned along the way that help produce accurate, reliable, and consistent

results.

Field Work and Ground Control

The key to accuracy is a combination of strong fieldwork and solid processing. Knowing the

environment is critical. The thicker the vegetation, the lower and slower you want to fly.

Just as important is where you set your ground control points and ground-truth shots.

For ground control, I like to set a minimum of five points. Place them in open areas, easy to

see from the air, and at locations where the terrain changes elevation. A good practice is to

set 10–20% of your points along the boundary of the survey area and a few in the middle.

When setting control, I’ll let the receiver average for 30 seconds to a minute, then after

about an hour and a half—or once I’m finished flying the project—I’ll come back, set up

again, and reshoot the same targets. Averaging twice ensures better accuracy.

For ground-truth shots, I’ll Walk ditches, brush, or heavily vegetated areas with my rover,

letting it average for 15–30 seconds per point. I only shoot these once, but they make a big

difference in post-processing—helping me confirm what’s truly ground versus just low

vegetation.

Flight Planning

Depending on the sensor, I adjust my flight. With the Rock R3 Pro, I typically fly at 160 feet

and around 15 mph. In really thick vegetation, I’ll fly lower and slower to maximize

penetration.

Coordinate Systems Matter

One thing that often gets overlooked is the coordinate system and datum you’re working in.

Making sure you’re collecting and processing in the correct system is crucial to project

success. If your LiDAR data isn’t aligned with your survey control because you used the

wrong projection or datum, the results can be unusable—no matter how well you flew or

processed the data. Always confirm with the client or survey team what system they expect

and double-check your setup before flying.

Processing and Deliverables

We’ve partnered with Whrixx for all our LiDAR processing. What I’ve noticed with other

software is that many rely heavily on AI algorithms that can delete needed points or just

average them, failing to get down to true bare earth.

Whrixx takes a different approach. They have licensed surveyors and photogrammetrists on

their team who know what they’re looking at when processing. Another advantage is their

ability to optimize point clouds so they can be imported into CAD without bogging down the

system—while still maintaining accuracy.

Deliverables are also customizable, whether you need contours, DTMs, planimetrics, or

classified point clouds.

These are just a few things I’ve learned over the years flying LiDAR and working alongside

surveyors and engineers. It’s been a process of trial and error, but the progress from being

off by 2 feet to now staying within a tenth has been huge.