G & C Imaging Solutions

Q: What is a UAV? UAV stands for "unmanned aerial vehicle." UAV's are commonly referred to as drones, which originated for military purposes and later became well known in the recreational market. More recently, the use of drones has increased substantially in commercial usage, primarily for collecting imagery and mapping data, with the agricultural sector being at the forefront. Q: What are the advantages of drones? Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have become a very efficient method of gathering aerial imagery for map creation and geospatial analysis. Capturing images with drones holds several advantages over imagery acquired from satellites or planes. Drones are much smaller and less expensive, meaning that mapping operations carried out with a drone won't cost you nearly as much. Drones fly at lower altitudes, leading to images with much higher spatial resolutions. Q: What types of drones do you use? G & C Imaging Solutions uses drones that most people aren't typically used to seeing. Unlike the more common quad-copter drones, we use fixed-wing drones, which look more like an airplanes than helicopters. Fixed-wing drones often hold an advantage for professional mapping purposes, particularly for agriculture, where their ability to cover much larger areas is very important. Q: Do drones require certification and licensing? In Canada, the operation of UAV's requires a Special Flight Operators Certificate (SFOC), acquired through Transport Canada. To operate under an SFOC, drones must be covered by liability insurance. G & C Imaging Solutions operates under a standing SFOC allowing us to operate anywhere in Saskatchewan.

Q: What is an orthomosaic? An orthomosaic is created by using photogrammetry software to stitch together multiple images acquired during a drone flight into one "mosaic" map. Additionally, this image is geographically referenced to a coordinate system, or "orthorectified." Click here to see sample data using an orthomosaic. Q: What is a DSM? A digital surface model is an image/map where each pixel has a value representing the elevation at that location. This can be used to create a 3D model of a terrain's surface, generate coutour lines, and many other geospatial analysis processes. Click here to see sample data using a DSM. Q: What is NDVI? Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is intended to display variation in vegetation health by measuring a plant's reflectance of near infrared light. NDVI is represented by a scale from -1 (very low) to 1 (very high). To create this index, a multi-spectral sensor is used to capture images and a calculation is made using the values acquired by the red and near infrared "wavebands" in the sensor. Click here to see sample data using NDVI. Q: Are there other types of indices like NDVI? Yes, NDVI is most commonly used due to its efficiency in displaying crop health variation in agricultural fields. However, there are situations where a different index will more effectively display plant health including different times of the season, different crop types, or when trying to examine a particular range of plant health. G & C Imaging Solutions can create other indices including NDRE (normalized difference red edge), SAVI (soil adjusted vegetation index), GNDVI (green normalized difference vegetation index) and more.

Q: How are images acquired to create mapping products? A drone will perform a fully automated grid pattern flight. During a flight, the onboard sensor will continually capture images at a pre-determined time interval in order to achieve a sufficient overlap of images. These images will later be processed to create an analytic map. Q: How are maps created from single images? Maps are created through a process called photogrammetry. A software is used to take any number of overlapping images and accurately stitch them together into a seamless map product. G & C Imaging Solutions uses Pix4dmapper, a professional photogrammetry software specifically designed for drone applications. Q: How are maps processed to display actionable information? Using a geographic information system (GIS) software, maps can be analyzed and processed in order to extract data and display actional information from a raw image file. G & C Imaging Solutions uses GIS software to analyze maps and make them useful for agricultural operations. GIS software can be used to effectively display NDVI maps, pinpoint stressed crops, create management zones, display topographic maps, calculate contour lines, determine high/low points, display run-off channels, measure distances/areas, and more. Click here to see some of our GIS workflows.

Q: How are the image/map products provided? The images we provide can be downloaded via an email that we will send you within 24 hours of flying your property. They can be downloaded directly from the email, or from a drop box link for larger sized files. Our images will come in a multitude of different file formats depending on your needs. Click here to see the file formats we provide. Q: How does payment work? After we have visited and flown your field, we will accept payment before delivering your final mapping product. We accept payment through cash, cheque, interac e-transfer, credit card, or paypal. Q: What if I need more assistance or analysis after being provided with my final product? We are always available to provide follow-up assistance, or perform further GIS analysis if needed. Feel free to contact us at any time for additional questions or requests.