Down to 1 cm (0.4 in) in drone survey accuracy
Tests in the USA and Switzerland prove that the WingtraOne mapping drone repeatedly reaches the best-in-class down to 1 cm (0.4 in) horizontal absolute accuracy. Learn how the WingtraOne drone achieved this level of accuracy and what to do to get closer to these measures in your own surveys.
Discussed in this white paper:
- Accuracy tests setup and results validation
- Sample data from more than 20 flights
- Factors influencing accuracy
- How to achieve centimer-level accuracy in your next project
Requirements to reach 1 cm (0.4 in)
Down to 1 cm (0.4 in) drone surveying accuracy is achievable under optimal conditions, on hard surfaces, using high-accuracy checkpoints combining total station and static long time GNSS measurements or well-established (>3 h logging) base stations.
Professional expertise and established infrastructure are critical to prove these results. In Switzerland, we used a set of checkpoints from the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry of ETH Zurich. For research purposes, the institute defined the location of these points within 2 mm (0.08 in) horizontal and 4 mm (0.16 in) vertical accuracy. Their accuracy is based on a high-accuracy network combining total stations and static long-time GNSS measurements comprising measurements of a CORS station that is part of the national network. These measurements are then integrated into a stochastic model that takes into account the accuracy of each device.
In the US (Phoenix), Wingtra used two HiPer V GNSS antennas from Topcon. One was set up as a base station and was logging for around three hours. The second was set up as a rover using the correction data from the local base to measure the checkpoints. Due to the small baseline between the rover and the base station the coordinates were defined at a subcentimeter level relative to the base.
