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Frequently Asked Questions

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General Questions

AerialData is a specialized provider of drone-based services with extensive experience in various sectors. Started by co-founders Stefan Otto and Stephen Knell,  we combine advanced drone technology with analytical expertise to deliver precise data and actionable insights.

Industries such as construction, agriculture, golf courses, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure maintenance greatly benefit from our services. Aerial surveys provide valuable insights for planning, monitoring, and decision-making processes.

We strictly adhere to all local and national drone regulations. Our pilots are certified and trained to operate within legal guidelines, ensuring safe and compliant flight operations.

Our drone-based surveys offer high accuracy, often within a few centimetres. This precision is achieved through advanced sensors and GPS technology, ensuring reliable data for various applications.

We closely monitor the weather forecast 5 days in advance. If adverse conditions are predicted, we communicate alternative plans with the client 48 hours before the scheduled session. This flexibility is essential for UK operations.

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Map My Golf Course

While first-hand ground knowledge is invaluable, our data complements your management strategy, providing you with another powerful tool to help you detect problems early and keep a healthy, cost efficient and more sustainable golf course  

We use advanced multispectral and thermal drones to capture high-resolution imagery, processed through our Turf Health Explorer platform. It delivers clear insights using scientifically proven indices like NDVI and NDRE, complementing your existing ground-based methods for a complete, data-driven view of turf health and resource management.

Multispectral imaging identifies subtle changes in turf health invisible to the naked eye, allowing for targeted interventions and efficient use of water and fertilizer. Trends can be identified from multipple survey results to give a full picture of your course’s turf health.

Thermal imaging detects temperature variations, revealing moisture imbalances, irrigation inefficiencies, and heat stress. This helps greenkeepers fine-tune irrigation and identifydrainage issues early.

Our services can significantly reduce the time spent on manual monitoring greens and help prevent costly issues through early detection, ultimately saving both time and resources in the long term.

No special training is needed. Turf Health Explorer presents data through intuitive maps and easy-to-read reports, highlighting turf stress, irrigation issues, and more. It’s fully accessible on tablets, mobiles, and desktops, allowing you to share insights with your team and make informed decisions from anywhere.

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Map My Vineyard

Aerial mapping provides detailed imagery and data of your vineyard, allowing for precise monitoring of vine health, soil conditions, and overall crop status. This data aids in identifying problem areas, optimizing irrigation, and managing crop health more effectively.

While owning a drone is an option, our service offers professional-grade equipment, expert data analysis, and years of experience, ensuring high-quality, actionable insights.

Absolutely. Our drones operate on electric power and have a minimal environmental footprint. Additionally,

the data they provide can help in reducing the use of water and chemicals in the vineyard by enabling

more precise application.

Regular surveys, such as monthly, provide consistent data to track changes and make timely decisions. The frequency can be adjusted based on growth stages, seasonal needs, or specific issues like disease outbreaks.

NDVI is great for general health assessment, while NDRE provides deeper insights into plant health, particularly in later growth stages. Both are used to tailor vineyard management practices like irrigation and disease control.

Yes, we have a portfolio of case studies demonstrating how our services have benefited various vineyards, which we can share upon request.

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Wind Turbine Inspection

A drone wind turbine inspection uses UAVs equipped with high-resolution cameras and sensors to inspect wind turbines for damage or wear, identifying issues such as cracks, erosion, and oil leaks.

Drones offer a safer, faster, and more cost-effective alternative to traditional manual inspections, easily accessing hard-to-reach areas and completing the job in a fraction of the time.
Drones capture high-resolution imagery that allows for detailed inspections, providing close-up views of turbine blades, towers, and nacelles to detect minor defects or areas of wear.

Inspections typically use drones with high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging for hotspots, or LiDAR for detailed structural analysis, depending on inspection requirements.

Drones are flown around the wind turbine, taking high-resolution photos or videos from various angles. The data is then analysed to identify visible signs of damage or wear.

A single wind turbine can typically be inspected in less than an hour, significantly quicker than traditional methods.

Ideal conditions are clear skies and low wind. Rain, fog, or high winds can affect drone flight stability and image quality.

Costs vary based on turbine size, number, drone type, and inspection level. Despite variables, drone inspections are often more cost-effective than traditional methods due to their efficiency and speed.

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Solar Panel Inspection

  1. Drone inspections cost less than manual inspections
  2. Inspection time is 70% faster
  3. Improves preventive maintenance by locating the tracking faults over time
  4. Reports display annual financial loss if anomalies stay unresolved
  5. No plant downtime required
  6. Actionable data for warranty claims
Aerial inspections can identify 100% of faults and identify the type of fault with 99% accuracy. Compared to manual inspections, drones have a much lower inspection time and provide more accurate data. Operations and maintenance teams can also effortlessly identify the location of anomalies with our detailed maps of the solar plant.

Yes. Warranty inspections usually require a thorough review of every module within the solar plant. Our comprehensive aerial inspections quickly and accurately identify warrantable issues and deliver a detailed, actionable report that can be used to submit a warranty claim.

When aerial inspections are performed instead of manual dc inspections, technicians spend less time in the field accessing combiner boxes, inverters, and modules. Drone thermal data can pinpoint where anomalies occur resulting in a more efficient workload for technicians as manual testing is only performed on the impaired areas of the PV system. In just one solar farm inspection, a large scale solar maintenance service provider had saved 778 man-hours from switching to aerial inspections.
The length of time for an inspection depends on the size of the site. Drones are the quickest and most efficient way of inspecting PV systems and can accomplish what would take manual IV curve testing 1 day in 1 hour. From our data, drones can cover anywhere between 10-50MW in a single day.
Typically 5 business days.
No. Manual inspections of solar plants can require scheduled downtime which results in lost revenue. With aerial inspections, drones are able to perform the inspection without the need to shut down the solar plant.
Yes. Our comprehensive solar inspections comply with the IEC TS 62446-3 thermography standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission, the world’s leading organization that publishes standards for all electronic related technologies.

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