Reality Capture, Laser Scanning, and UAV/Drone Services

WSSI provides Reality Capture, Laser Scanning, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV or drone) services to support site and right-of-way studies, project design, and construction phase processes. We use this state-of-the-art technology to measure, inspect, and monitor project sites – bringing new opportunities to streamline assessment and monitoring tasks. This technology also facilitates sharing this data with potential investors and stakeholders.

UAV alone is a powerful tool. Drone photogrammetry and high-definition 3D laser scanning are efficient, cost-effective, and can readily access difficult locations and cover expansive sites. It can be easily repeated over time to monitor changes in the landscape. Reality Capture creates 3D data sets by combining the drone photogrammetry with aerial LiDAR and 3D laser scanning.

UAV, Laser Scanning, and Reality Capture are excellent tools for all who work with the land:

Residential and commercial developers

Energy companies

Engineers

Surveyors

Real estate agents

Transportation and utility agencies & companies

Land managers

Public safety agencies

UAV/Drone, Laser Scanning, and Reality Capture provide

Efficiency

Drone technology provides details quickly and easily for even the largest projects.

Accessibility

Provides access to sites that are considered too dangerous for conventional field crews or are difficult to reach due to terrain or infrastructure constraints.

Digital Flexibilty

Accurate digital representation of site and project conditions over time allows you to revisit a location virtually and extract additional data for design when project scope changes or expands.

Detail

Acquires minute details that conventional methods can’t – surface qualities, slight movements over time – for projects where this level of detail is critical, such as as-built surveys, building façade inspections, conditions of historic monuments, buildings, and artifacts, etc.

UAV perspective allows WSSI to evaluate right-of-way conditions and potential issues in this utility easement in Reston, Virginia.

Staff flying the DJI Inspire 1 Pro

WSSI uses UAVs to identify right-of-way encroachments and issues

The drone captured this image during a demonstration for a class of arborists in Waynesboro, Virginia

UAVs provide clear images – and keep staff safe on the ground – during tree health inspections

Staff preparing the DJI Inspire 1 Pro for flight

UAVs offer clear perspective on post-construction stream restoration site

Point Cloud image for McMillan stream restoration, Cecil Co., Maryland

Improved Energy and Utility Asset Management

Easily maneuverable and small, drones can access multiple perspectives (above the canopy, from a right of way), and can reach areas not visible from standard up-in-the-air flightlines and difficult to access from the ground.

Highly detailed drone photogrammetry is an efficient way to record corridor encroachments and vegetation types and densities, making maintenance planning easy. Drones can be deployed to the exact same locations time after time, to evaluate maintenance success and to plan for the future.

Through WSSI's Reality Capture technologies, large data sets can be easily shared and accessed by clients in the office or in the field - even on a smart phone.

WSSI staff using a Leica High-Definition Laser Scanner

Reality Capture, Laser Scanning and UAV/Drone Service uses include:

Photography and Videography
- Real estate marketing
- Panoramic images
3D models for virtual tours
Inspections and monitoring: construction, encroachments, site maintenance
- Survey-grade detail
- Real-time inspections to track project progress
- Cut/Fill analysis on construction sites and quarries
Topography, floodplain evaluation, 3D modeling of existing conditions and as-builts (allows for virtual design)
Land surveying (as-builts, topographic)
Bathymetric surveys
Wildlife surveys (such as nest counts and habitat analysis)
Aerial tree health inspections
Vegetation analysis
Dam removal monitoring
Virtual spatial/collision analysis
LiDAR & Photogrammetry Support, Training, and Consultation via CivilTraining
- UAV flight and post processing
- UAV program development (Regulation/Safety/Best Practices)
- HD Scanning (Terrestrial LiDAR) Program Development and Processing
- Point Cloud Registration and Post-Processing
- Point Cloud-Developed Planimetric and Topographic Mapping
- LiDAR Data Analysis, Manipulation, Registration, and Optimization