The use of drones in airborne surveys has many advanges compared to conventional research from groud level or airborne surveys using manned helicopters or airplanes:
Risk reduction - The use of drones for specific monitoring and inspection tasks now performed by people can significantly reduce risks related to hights and the risk of falling.
No need to shut down plants - Using drones capable of inspecting functioning installations in a short time span makes expensive shut-down superfluous.
Better overview - Flying at low hights, drones create a very sharp image and a clear overview which can be used to actively monitor and inspect activities, installations, infrastructure and buildings on the surface.
Survey of inaccessible locations - A drone can fly where people or vehicles have no access, for example over swamps, densely forrested areas and locations of suspected UXO. Drones make these areas accessible for airborne surveys.
Improved data density - Compared to manned helicopters and planes, drones can get much closer to the survey goal, resulting in higher data density, resolution and overall survey quality.
Faster data acquisition - Drones can perform surveys or inspections of (objects on) the surface or at hights in a much shorter time span.
Lower costs - For all of the above mentioned reasons, the costs of drone research are often considerably lower.
