First aeromagnetic survey using drones conducted in Guam

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Integrated Systems
August 24, 2021

2cofly, a partner of SPH Engineering, has conducted the very first aeromagnetic survey using drones in Guam. The company was contracted by a client developing a 60MW solar farm that spans across 200 acres. The main challenge of the project was to fly a drone at extremely low altitudes in a very hilly area.

The drone industry in Guam is still relatively new and emerging and 2cofly is at the forefront of bringing this amazing technology to Guam. To study 200 acres the alternative (traditional) method has been estimated to take over a year, whereas doing the same scan using drones could only take 3-4 months. It was a no-brainer for the solar farm developer in terms of cost & time savings.

The remote sensing project required 2cofly to fly a drone at extremely low altitudes and this posed a great challenge because not only was the development large, but it was also very hilly.

‘With the UgCS Pro, we were able to easily plan and organize our operation into daily bite-sized flight segments, import georeferenced orthophotos to create highly accurate flight paths, and we were even able to export our flight routes in KML to share with the other subcontractor responsible for cutting the vegetation in our scan area’, Dong Won Lee, head of 2cofly, comments.

‘Also, with the True Terrain Following System, we were able to reliably maintain our target altitude throughout the site with minimal deviation. So far, we’ve scanned 130 acres which roughly equates to 200 miles of flight. Through SPH Engineering’s solutions, we were able to do all this in just a month and a half and we’ve never run into any issues. If I were to describe their solutions in one word, I’d have to say - reliable’, he adds.

Learn more about projects of 2cofly »»»

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