Who needs this?
Teams mapping 10 acres to thousands of acres — topographic surveys, progress monitoring, stockpiles, and corridor segments where crewed aircraft would be overkill.
What to budget for
- Airframe + RTK: Positioning for the drone itself — often paired with PPK/RTK for ground control reduction.
- Payload: RGB for photogrammetry, multispectral for ag, LiDAR for canopy and engineering-grade surfaces.
- Software: Flight planning, processing (Pix4D, Agisoft, DJI Terra, etc.), and GIS export.
- Compliance: FAA Part 107 in the U.S. for commercial work.
LiDAR or camera?
Open terrain with good lighting → photogrammetry often wins on cost. Forested sites, weak texture, or night-adjacent constraints → LiDAR payloads. Many firms run both over time.