Pixels and Points

Hosted by Eric Andelin CP, Senior Workflow Advisor, SimActive with guest speaker Austin Scheib, Certified UAS Pilot. Mapping areas with water through photogrammetry can be a challenge. Sun reflections and homogeneity between images can really make the process difficult. Resulting DSMs/DTMs can often be noisy, while orthomosaics may present color issues. To mitigate this, additional tie points can be used while performing aerial triangulation, or existing polygons of water bodies can be applied with fixed elevation values. Moreover, seamline editing can be done to create the best possible orthomosaic by choosing images or areas within images where little glare can be found. Austin Scheib joins us to discuss some of the challenges he has faced, and best practices involved in mapping around water. Specifically, listeners will learn the following: • Considerations before flight • Options for successful aerial triangulation • Ways to fix DSMs/DTMs • Solutions to ensure the quality of mosaics

Hosted by Eric Andelin CP, Senior Workflow Advisor, SimActive with guest speaker Chris Greene UAS Manager with Bullseye Construction. Drones used for mapping require much more than a capable pilot, drone, and photogrammetry software. To create map products, the resulting image data must be tied to the ground. And for this, some form of survey is required. Survey can be in the form of targets surveyed on, or in the air on the drone itself using RTK or PPK technology in conjunction with a receiver in the ground. In either case, the goal is to correct the position of the raw image data spatially so that it fits the same reference system on the ground. Chris Greene with Bullseye Construction joins us to discuss the challenges of new survey technology vs conventional methods.     Specifically, listeners will learn about the following: Understanding RTK/PPK for drone Supplementing with GCPs        Managing accuracy with Correlator3D Confirming the quality of results

Hosted by Eric Andelin CP, Senior Workflow Advisor, SimActive, Inc., with guest speaker Gordon Morris, Owner of GMAPSNZ With the relatively low costs involved in drone ownership, there has been an explosion in new mapping companies. As the value of drones for mapping begins to plateau on the hype curve, there is ample opportunity for those early adopters to share their knowledge helping others avoid the mistakes they may have made. This ranges from selecting the right drone for mapping to choosing the right processing software and tools for validation. Gordon Morris with GMAPSNZ in New Zealand joins us to discuss some of the pitfalls he’s seen and share his path to success.     Specifically, listeners will learn about the following:     Planning for what you’re mapping     Choosing the right drone for the mission Developing processing workflows Understanding options in Correlator3D

Hosted by Eric Andelin CP, Senior Workflow Advisor, SimActive with guest speaker David Alamillo, Photogrammetry Specialist with SimActive Working with drones inherently means working with a large number of images, and as projects get larger, the amount of time spent editing outputs can increase exponentially. The same is true for traditional aerial mapping companies with large format cameras mapping even bigger projects. When creating mosaics, every input image will require a seamline within the overall mosaic, leaving many seamlines to be inspected. In many cases, a cursory review is all that is needed to ensure the mosaic is color balanced with no visible conflicts between seamlines. However, in some cases, additional editing may be required to meet user specific requirements. New Correlator3D version 10.2 incorporates a significantly more intuitive approach for seamline editing, making it easier and faster than before.  The new version also includes new tools to manipulate point cloud data prior to export. Join us to learn more about these new tools and how they can save you time and money on your future mapping projects. Listeners will learn the following: ·        Streamlining mosaic editing ·        Selecting specific ortho for inclusion ·        Editing point clouds prior to export ·        Performing quality control in real-time