Services

Optical Gas Imaging (OGI)

Drone mounted OGI is increasingly being used for detection of methane and other Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Advances in optical gas camera technology combined with increasingly stringent environmental compliance requirements have made UAV inspection an attractive option for asset owners. Following the United Nations COP26 conference in Nov 2021, many countries have signed up to stricter limits on allowable levels of fugitive emissions.

Kestrel, and our sister company Net Zero Aerial are at the cutting edge of this new paradigm and can offer compliance solutions for current and future anticipated regulatory requirements.

Thermal

Thermal imaging by UAS platforms has been a significant game-changer for the inspection capability for asset integrity.

Small agile UAS platforms can easily provide critical thermal survey data to ground crews on site. The crews are much safer with their feet on the ground and their eyes in the sky.

Assets from Solar Farms to Petroleum and LNG tanks can now be safely and comprehensively scanned in a fraction of the time when compared to legacy scaffolding and rope access methods.

Photogrammetry / Orthomosaic Point Clouds

Photogrammetry is a time-tested process of accurately stitching a multitude of photos to create a map or other graphic deliverable.

The resolution of these traditional products varies between 4-and 10 inches per pixel. What does this mean? As you zoom down to observe more detail in the ground or buildings the pixels expand and the resolution diminishes. Within a few 100 ft of the ground, small details become blurry or not visible, and only large renderings can be seen. With a UAS system, this same procedure has been updated with the latest in technology. Today we can capture hundreds or thousands of high-resolution pictures at altitudes below 400 ft. Our typical delivered resolution is less than a centimeter per pixel. This means that details of assets or the buildings can be clearly seen as close as a few feet away.

This point cloud-based deliverable can also be used to create 3D renderings of objects or total site 3D fly-throughs. It can also be used to create a Digital Terrain Model for volumetric calculations of aggregate or natural structures as well as a go-to for dirt takeoff projects.

LiDAR

LiDAR (Light Distance and Ranging) has been the ultimate capability utilized by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) over the past 5 years.

LiDAR from a UAS platform provides highly accurate and granular data that surpasses that which has been traditionally collected from fixed-wing and rotor winged aircraft. Why? Because a UAS system can fly lower and slower than these traditional methods. This directly affects the accuracy and resolution of the data collected. This disruptive force in the engineering, energy, and survey space has revolutionized the workflows previously in place. Today we can survey a 400-acre property in one day versus 30-45 days in the field for a survey crew. Linear projects can be scanned more than 10-12 miles per day.

UAS LiDAR capability and utilization is not a replacement for these traditional services but more importantly provides an exponential workflow accelerator for the operator or client. Now a smaller operation can scale its offerings without having to increase its investment in human capital. For the larger company or corporation, it can become a critical arrow in their operational quiver.

Our operators have over 500 successfully completed LiDAR projects spanning many industries. We are a partner you can trust with your project or program. Get in touch today to see how we can turbo boost your workflow.

High resolution imaging

With the latest advances in UAS Optical sensors, it is no longer necessary to have human inspectors utilize scaffolding, rope access, or any other potentially dangerous method to collect visual data during an inspection.

Combing both optical and digital zoom capability, 4-8k video or still photos, and an arsenal of various optical lenses and sensors, close-up inspections are carried out safely and at a higher resolution than ever before.

Read forge marks on a bolt head or inspect a critical cable junction box 80 ft up and 50 ft away? No Problem!