UAVs–Contributing to Unlicensed Surveying?

The recent advent of UAVs and their proliferation throughout the world has given rise to a new crop of service capabilities and providers for such services. The list of UAV capabilities grows almost daily, aerial imagery, orthophotography, DTM, survey-grade point clouds, contour mapping, thermal imaging and various forms of 3D imagery. In addition to the growing list of UAV capabilities, the “cost of entry” into the UAV space is decreasing, this coupled with ever increasing ease of operation and the relaxing of FAA requirements (FAA Part 107), has allowed a litany of UAV operators into the market. Software developers continue to improve and refine programs that provide simplified image processing and point cloud rendering and conversion such that virtually anyone with a UAV can now capture imagery, convert and process it into some form of a deliverable. This is where the water becomes murky…or does it?

McKim & Creed’s Greg Jeffries shares his thoughts on the subject of UAVs and licensure in this LinkedIn post.