Lessons Learned Flying LiDAR and Working with Surveyors & Engineers 

What I’ve learned from my experience working with surveyors and engineers flying drones and processing data is this: flying drones using various sensors like LiDAR isn’t the difficult part. Getting accurate, reliable, and usable deliverables is a whole different story. 
 
When I first started out, the first couple of projects I tried LiDAR on would be off by as much as 2 feet in certain areas. Today, after refining my workflow and learning from my mistakes, I’m consistently getting data within a tenth of a foot. These are a few of the tips and practices I’ve learned along the way that help produce accurate, reliable, and consistent results. 
 
Field Work and Ground Control 
The key to accuracy is a combination of strong fieldwork and solid processing. Knowing the environment is critical. The thicker the vegetation, the lower and slower you want to fly. Just as important is where you set your ground control points and ground-truth shots. 
 
For ground control, I like to set a minimum of five points. Place them in open areas, easy to see from the air, and at locations where the terrain changes elevation. A good practice is to set 10–20% of your points along the boundary of the survey area and a few in the middle. 
 
When setting control, I’ll let the receiver average for 30 seconds to a minute, then after about an hour and a half—or once I’m finished flying the project—I’ll come back, set up again, and reshoot the same targets. Averaging twice ensures better accuracy. 
 
For ground-truth shots, I’ll walk ditches, brush, or heavily vegetated areas with my rover, letting it average for 15–30 seconds per point. I only shoot these once, but they make a big difference in post-processing—helping me confirm what’s truly ground versus just low vegetation. 
 
Flight Planning 
Depending on the sensor, I adjust my flight. With the Rock R3 Pro, I typically fly at 160 feet and around 15 mph. In really thick vegetation, I’ll fly lower and slower to maximize penetration. 
 
Coordinate Systems Matter 
One thing that often gets overlooked is the coordinate system and datum you’re working in. Making sure you’re collecting and processing in the correct system is crucial to project success. If your LiDAR data isn’t aligned with your survey control because you used the wrong projection or datum, the results can be unusable—no matter how well you flew or processed the data. Always confirm with the client or survey team what system they expect and double-check your setup before flying. 
 
Processing and Deliverables 
We’ve partnered with Whrixx for all our LiDAR processing. What I’ve noticed with other software is that many rely heavily on AI algorithms that can delete needed points or just average them, failing to get down to true bare earth. 
 
Whrixx takes a different approach. They have licensed surveyors and photogrammetrists on their team who know what they’re looking at when processing. Another advantage is their ability to optimize point clouds so they can be imported into CAD without bogging down the system—while still maintaining accuracy. 
 
Deliverables are also customizable, whether you need contours, DTMs, planimetrics, or classified point clouds. 
 
These are just a few things I’ve learned over the years flying LiDAR and working alongside surveyors and engineers. It’s been a process of trial and error, but the progress from being off by 2 feet to now staying within a tenth has been huge. 
 
If you have tips you’ve learned or want to talk through workflows, feel free to reach out to us at SkyFleet Solutions.