Odum Institute: Optimizing Data Collection and Creating Maps with Drones

Optimizing Data Collection and Creating Maps with Drones

This course is being offered in collaboration between the Odum Institute and the Center for Urban & Regional Studies. Attendance is required - this course will not be recorded.

This one-day short course, led by the Carolina Drone Lab, will cover drone data collection, planning, and analysis. Small unoccupied aircraft systems (sUAS or drones) are a common mapping and 3D-modeling tool in many organizations. To fully leverage the technology and its benefits, there needs to be a foundation in understanding how to collect quality images and process those images into usable information. The course discusses the best flight parameters for different environments along with advanced data analysis in a GIS environment. Attendees will be introduced to: mission planning, creating automated flights for data capture, processing software for drone imagery (Pix4dMapper), and working with drone imagery in GIS. Commonly used tools and resources will be shared.

Students will learn the technical capabilities and limitations of the drones available for use, and why selection of the right drone and sensor combination is important to obtaining the right data for a project. This course offers participants the chance to learn about a broad spectrum of techniques to take the next steps on their own.

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