An Overview of Aerial 3D Mapping

Three-dimensional media has been a hot topic in the last decade. Starting with 3D movies, people have been developing an appetite for experiencing media in 3D. And technology has been evolving to cater for those appetites. 

The creation of 3D media has advanced a great deal. In the past, it was out of the reach of most individuals and a good portion of organizations. Now, 3D scanners have become commonplace, and everyone with a few hundred dollars can create a 3D representation of a wide array of items. 

But there’s perhaps an even more interesting aspect of 3D media that has been growing rapidly – 3D mapping. 

It’s done from the air, there’s really no other way to do it. 

In this article, I’ll discuss the essential aspects of aerial 3D mapping and answer the most frequently asked questions. 

What is Aerial Mapping?

Understanding aerial mapping is crucial to understanding 3D mapping. They’re actually the same thing, more or less, but the term aerial mapping seems less daunting. 

In the most basic sense, aerial mapping is making maps while in the air. But how do you do that? 

You need two things: A sensor and an aerial vehicle. 

The sensor captures photographs, preferably in high resolution. And the aerial vehicle carries the payload that houses the sensor. 

An aerial vehicle can be as small as a drone or as big as an airplane. Your choice of vehicle typically depends on the extensiveness of the area you want to map, as well as constraints such as time and cost. 

Once you are in the air with your aerial vehicle and sensor, you capture the sort of images you want. 

According to orientation, there are two major types of aerial images: nadir and oblique images. 

Nadir images are taken when the sensor is at a ninety-degree angle with the ground. They capture less detail about the vertical aspects of physical features and are not much help in 3D applications like 3D city modeling. 

Oblique images are taken when the sensor is at an angle less than 90 degrees with the ground. It’s very useful when taking 3D images of landscapes, such as in 3D city modeling. 

For the best results when mapping, the two types of images are usually combined. 

Because you want to create a 3D map, the images you take have to overlap. You can control the overlap settings with the help of special software. 

After the photos are taken, they’ll be processed and stitched together according to the principles of photogrammetry. The result is that 2D photos are transmitted into a 3D map. 

How to 3D Map With a Drone

To 3D map with a drone, you need a drone that is suitably-equipped. 

First, it would be best to use professional sensors. This helps obtain high-quality imagery, which makes it easy to easily produce high-quality maps. 

Using a professional sensor means that you can’t rely on the sensor that comes with most drones. You’ll have to attach a payload to a drone. With this in mind, you have to obtain a drone that can carry the required payload. 

All you need to do is mount your payload on the drone, capture the images, and process them with specialized software to come up with your 3D map. 

What is 3D Mapping Used For? 

3D mapping has a variety of applications across industries. 

One of the applications is 3D city modeling. City authorities can draw multiple benefits from developing volumetric models of their cities. These include design, planning, and population estimation. 

With a 3D map, a city can estimate its population by analyzing the volume of buildings. 

Such volume analysis is also important in other industries. For example, factories that use large quantities of material can use 3D maps to calculate the volume of remaining material, which helps plan more accurately. 

Another use of 3D mapping is the analysis of landscape change. Analyzing how an area has changed over time can help determine the effect of earth movements and detect any risks. 

The growth of an area can be analyzed using the same technique. As populations shift and more structures are constructed, the changes can be studied through volumetric analysis.