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FEATURE

DRONES IN THE FIELD OF

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

BY PAWEL GRADOWSKI, LASQUARE LANDSCAPE AND AQUATIC ARCHITECTURE

The Webster dictionary describes a drone as ‘… an unmanned aircraft or ship
guided by remote control or onboard computers…’. Based on this definition, the
first drones using hot air balloons were used over 170 years ago. In this article,
Gradowski discusses the practicality of modern mini-drones or ‘quadcopters’ in the

profession of landscape architecture.

n very general terms, drones can be grouped
into the following three categories:
I • toy drones
• camera drones
• professional drones
Toy drones, often equipped with a small
camera, are widely available in various gadget
stores. The main feature of these low-cost
devices is the fact that their flight is remotely
controlled using a smartphone via Wi-Fi or
Bluetooth signal, which limits their effective
range to ± 10 metres from the operator. If they
are moved too far away, which can be caused
by a gust of wind, the signal connection is
broken and the operator loses all control over
the drone’s actions. This makes controlling
toy drone functions very unreliable. It may
be fun to play with them, but they are not
recommended for any professional purposes. Drone images allow for a swift analysis of site conditions during the construction period. This drone photo
The much more reliable camera and simplified the process of counting the number of large tree stumps that had to be removed from the site.
high-end professional drones are controlled
by a dedicated radio signal that increases
the full operation range to several hundred
metres, and in good conditions this can be sonographic data, air quality information office often allows for a detailed analysis of
extended to several kilometers. In addition, and many other functions that are uniquely collected information.
these drones are equipped with a GPS system dedicated for a particular need. These drones
that makes them capable of returning to the are very expensive and are usually operated • Patterns in the existing landscape – This can
‘home’ location independently when the on- by highly trained professionals. also be done using Goggle Earth images, but
board batteries get to a low level or contact drones provide more accurate information
with the operator is accidently broken. Benefits of drone images and an opportunity for collecting very
Camera drones are usually equipped with a I have been using a mid-level camera detailed data from selected areas. Also,
high definition camera that provides features drone (DJI Mavic AIR-2) in my professional satellite images are not frequently available
similar to those of high quality cellphone landscape architectural practice for nearly in satisfactory resolutions, and are limited
cameras. Depending on the model, the two years. Learning to comfortably operate to what has been collected by others at a
camera orientation and its optical properties a drone takes just a few hours of practice time that may not represent the current
can be remotely controlled by the operator. and the benefits of using them are definitely conditions (i.e. seasonality, development or
In addition, many models of these drones are worth the investment. The following are the erosion changes).
capable of self-controlling their flight path, key advantages to using drones in landscape
automatically avoiding collisions with trees, architecture: • Visual analysis of existing vegetation – A
people and objects in their air space. The cost • Effective site analysis – Collecting high series of up-to-date, high resolution images
of these drones, depending on the selected resolution, bird’s eye view images from a allows one to review the general conditions
model, starts in a range similar to a premium large area allows for very fast inventory of the existing vegetation. This is especially
cellphone. of the selected site conditions. This is useful when examining the upper crowns of
The high end, professional drones usually especially useful at a site such as a wetland large trees.
have similar or further improved technical or where there is dense vegetation that is
characteristics of the camera drones and in difficult to explore on foot. In addition, a • Reviews of the work during construction
addition, are equipped with an on-board drone investigation can cover a large area in - Without a proper survey it may be very
specific gear that increases their functional a matter of minutes, while walking through difficult to confirm if the design patterns
capabilities. They may collect detailed the entire site may be very time consuming. and alignments shown on the drawings
topographic surveys, infrared images, Carefully reviewing the images in the are accurately located at the site by the
n

Landscape SA • Issue 116 2022 13