Drone Surveying – Can I Reuse Known Ground Control Points Without Compromising on Accuracy?

In today’s show, we reveal various best practices for correctly using ground control points to enhance accuracy in drone surveying.

Our caller for today, Mark has a great question about setting up GCP’s. Mark is wondering if he can reuse known ground control points for drone surveying. Because most construction sites already have ground control points, reusing these known points will save considerable time and effort. But, can you do so without compromising on accuracy?

To answer Mark’s question, we first explain the purpose of setting ground control points in drone surveying. Listeners will learn that a reliable GPS and ground target is necessary for accurately marking GCP’s. Next, we reveal the various best practices for setting up Ground Control Points to attain the highest level of accuracy. What should be the dimensions of your ground target so that projection error is greatly reduced? And, what is the optimum GCP distribution for conducting an accurate drone survey?

You will also learn how you can enhance accuracy by changing ground control points to checkpoints in Pix4D. Paul also reveals a great hack that will allow you to place your landing pad precisely over a known survey point. If you are struggling with the complexities of drone surveying, this is a show you do not want to miss. Thanks for the great question, Mark. Fly Safe

Our In-person Mapping Course is coming up in New York, August 1- 4. Over this two-plus day course, we will be introducing and flying a variety of data acquisition types followed by discussion and instruction on how to process the acquired data in Pix4D. We’ll also discuss other processing software options and when each is most effective. Register now. Limited Seats Available!

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