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For architects, surveyors and contractors

You need a survey. You don't need a drone.

Tell us what you need surveyed and what has to land on your desk. We write back what we find around the site and — above all — what it involves: authorisations, operation category, weeks to allow for. Then we look for whoever actually works in that area.

Describe the survey First: photogrammetry or LiDAR?

Photogrammetry or LiDAR? It depends what you need to see

These aren't two price points for the same service: they are two instruments that see different things. Choosing wrong costs you a second flight.

Photogrammetry

Reconstructs the model from photographs: it sees what the lens sees.

  • Excellent for roofs and façades, open-pit quarries and stockpiles, construction progress, orthophotos of large exposed areas. It's the economical choice when the subject is visible and has texture.
  • It cannot see through vegetation: if you need the ground under woodland, it returns the canopy. It struggles on uniform surfaces — smooth render, sheet metal, water — and on façades in full shade.

LiDAR

Measures distance with a laser pulse: it doesn't need to see colour, it needs a return.

  • It penetrates foliage and gives you the ground under vegetation, works in low light, and is more accurate in elevation. It's the only option for DTMs in wooded areas, alignments and slopes, and wherever vertical accuracy matters.
  • It costs considerably more, and the data is heavy to process. If your subject is exposed and well lit, you are often paying for a capability you don't need.

Not sure which one you need? That's the most useful answer you can give us: tick "I don't know which one I need" in the form and describe the job. It's exactly the question we're equipped to answer.

What you get, in formats you actually open

A survey is only useful if it enters your workflow. In the form, pick the deliverables you genuinely need: the operator quotes for those, not for a generic "drone service".

Point cloud (.las / .laz / .e57)
Georeferenced orthophoto (GeoTIFF)
Terrain / surface model (DTM, DSM)
Contour lines
Plans, elevations, sections (.dwg)
Scan-to-BIM (.rcp, .ifc)
Textured 3D mesh
Photographic inspection report

Before the price, the question almost nobody asks you: what does flying there involve?

A historic centre, an area near an aerodrome, a park, an industrial plant: each changes the category of the operation, the timeline and the cost — and in some cases makes it impossible without an authorisation that takes weeks. Finding that out after you've accepted the commission is your problem, not the operator's.

As soon as you send the request, your address goes through our dataset — the same sources behind the operators' pre-flight check — and the reply tells you what we find: zones, nearby aerodromes, protected areas, sensitive sites. And above all what it involves: near an aerodrome, for instance, the operation needs authorisation from the ENAC Territorial Directorate (Circular ATM-09A) — so a Specific category operation, and weeks of lead time to put in the quote.

In Italy there is a limit we would rather state: the zones we consult come from the AIP, that is manned-aviation airspace. UAS geographical zones are established by ENAC and published via d-flight: there may be more, especially over urban areas. So a zone we find is real, but finding none is not a clearance — and our reply says exactly that.

This is a preliminary indication based on location, not an authorisation: the formal check is made by the operator before the flight, with data current on the day of the operation.

Who answers, and who flies

Dronetrake doesn't carry out surveys: it's the platform professional operators run their operations on — authorisations, flight log, evidence handed to the client. What we do is give you the picture for your site and look for operators working in that area; if we find none, we tell you rather than leaving you waiting. The quote comes from the operator, directly to you: we don't enter the negotiation and we don't take a cut.

Why it's worth coming through us: operators on Dronetrake keep their flight log, certificates and insurance inside the platform. If that survey ever ends up in an expert report or a dispute, the flight behind it is documented — and the documentation is yours, not theirs.

Describe the survey

The more precise you are, the more real the quote you get back. The technical fields are optional: if you don't know them, skip them.

1 — Where

Approximate is fine: "SP 38 km 4, quarry north of Olbia" works. We need it to see where it falls relative to airspace zones.

2 — What you need

3 — Technical specifications (optional)

E.g. ETRS89/UTM32N, WGS84, a local cadastral system. Leave blank if it isn't binding.

Needed when the survey has to be metrically certifiable or tied into a precise reference system.

Access constraints, time windows, people on site, whether the site is live, what you'll do with the data.

4 — About you

Optional, but on a survey you settle more in three minutes on the phone than in three emails.

If you leave this ticked, you'll receive the contacts of available operators and they'll receive your request. If you untick it, the request stays with us: we reply with the picture for your site and pass your details to nobody.

Your details are used to answer your request. If you authorise forwarding, they are shared with reachable operators in your area. No other use, no sale to third parties.