01What is a LiDAR drone survey?

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) fires hundreds of thousands of laser pulses per second from a drone. Because some pulses pass through gaps in vegetation and reflect off the ground, LiDAR can reconstruct the true terrain surface beneath trees and bush — producing a highly accurate, dense 3D point cloud.

02Why choose LiDAR over photogrammetry?

• Penetrates vegetation — capture bare-earth ground under forest and dense canopy.
• Works in low light — LiDAR is active sensing and less dependent on lighting and texture.
• Captures fine structures — power lines, cables and thin features are recorded cleanly.
• Dense, accurate point clouds — millions of measured points for precise modelling.

03How MKA Mesh Systems delivers

We plan flights for full coverage and overlap, establish GNSS ground control, and fly survey-grade UAV LiDAR. Data is processed and classified (ground, vegetation, buildings, power lines) and rigorously checked against control before delivery.

04Deliverables

• Classified point clouds (LAS/LAZ)
• Digital terrain models (DTM) and digital surface models (DSM)
• Contour maps and breaklines
• Canopy height models for forestry
• CAD/GIS-ready outputs and accuracy reports

05Applications & industries

Forestry and plantations, power-line and pipeline corridors, road and rail route planning, flood modelling, mining, and any vegetated or hard-to-access site where photogrammetry struggles.

06Frequently asked questions

When should I use LiDAR instead of photogrammetry? Choose LiDAR when the site is heavily vegetated, when you need bare-earth terrain under trees, or when capturing thin features like power lines. Photogrammetry is ideal for open sites and colour imagery.

How accurate is drone LiDAR? With proper control, UAV LiDAR typically achieves 3–8 cm accuracy depending on flight parameters and terrain.

Can you combine LiDAR with imagery? Yes — we can fly LiDAR and capture imagery to deliver both a classified point cloud and a colour orthomosaic.