How Drones are Useful for Data Gathering

In today’s Age of Information, drones are becoming more indispensable as they provide invaluable support in data gathering. How are drones useful for data gathering?

Data collection, once entirely Earth-bound, is no longer limited by physical capabilities. Airborne drones allow people to photograph, video, map, survey and inspect where nobody can physically be, powering a vast world of industries with real-time insights. When they connect to cloud computing to collect and analyze data, drones can become an essential part of a company’s digital transformation. – Read more.

Using drones for data gathering are especially beneficial for engineers, construction businesses and their clients. What advantages do they get from using drones to capture data?

Improving safety – drones can take the place of humans in unsafe and high risk environment, such as towers, cliffs and other tall structures
Improved accessibility – the size and weight of drones make it easy for them to access places when it is hard for an aircraft or a crane to do so
Real-time progress monitoring – with drones, there can be more frequent data capture and progress monitoring of construction and installations during the project
Investing in technology – although professional, high-end drones are expensive but they are a smart investment for engineering teams
Legality — flying drones legally and safely requires operators have the necessary experience, training, licenses, certifications and insurance, just as is the case with the operation of other aircraft.
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In the field of weather forecasting, drones for weather research can provide for meteorologists the possibility to view a steady stream of data from inside the storm, says one article. NOAA is working alongside Area-1, a Georgia based aerospace company that created ALTICUS-600. According to NOAA, the drone offers exciting, new data-gathering features such as the ability to fly up to four hours and distances up to 265 miles from its launch point. – Read more.

See this study on efficient data collection and tracking with flying drones, for wireless sensor networks.

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