Drone topographic surveys across Queensland
Contours at your interval, DTM/DEM surfaces, orthomosaics and classified point clouds for civil design, tenders and earthworks, with every survey tested against check points withheld from the bundle adjustment.
A drone topographic survey flies an RTK-positioned photogrammetric pattern over the site and turns it into the surfaces a civil designer opens: contours at the interval you specify, a DTM or DEM, a GeoTIFF orthomosaic and a classified .LAS point cloud. Accuracy is up to 1 cm + 1 ppm horizontal and 1.5 cm + 1 ppm vertical, and each survey is held to an accuracy gate written into the proposal and tested against check points withheld from the bundle adjustment. Processed data is issued two to three business days after capture. Indicative pricing as at October 2026, exclusive of GST: roughly $800–$3,500 for a small-to-mid site. South East Queensland is home ground; regional Queensland and Northern NSW sites run as scheduled, fixed-price trips.
From bare site to design surface
One flight yields the full stack: a current-condition orthomosaic, a classified point cloud, DTM and DEM surfaces, and contours cut to whatever interval your design standard calls for. Site surveys are typically flown at around 30 m. Hover doesn't fly directly over anyone outside the operation, so your site team keeps working through the survey.
Everything lands CAD-ready. 12d and Civil 3D take the surfaces directly, and the ortho drops under your design as a georeferenced base. If there are stockpiles on site, the same flight feeds stockpile and volumetric surveys (the accuracy checks are set out in how accurate a drone stockpile survey is), and a structure on the site can be captured as a measurable 3D model in the same visit.
| Contours | TO YOUR SPECIFIED INTERVAL |
|---|---|
| Surfaces | DTM / DEM |
| Imagery | ORTHOMOSAIC — GeoTIFF |
| Point cloud | .LAS CLASSIFIED |
| Accuracy | Up to 1 cm + 1 ppm H · 1.5 cm + 1 ppm V |
| Turnaround | 2–3 BUSINESS DAYS FROM CAPTURE |
CONTOURS — CLIENT INTERVALIs your site a drone survey site?
Photogrammetry measures what the camera can see. On open ground that's the whole site; under cover it's nothing at all. The table below sets out what that means for each type of ground.
| Bare earth, hardstand, cleared pads | The true surface. This is where drone topography is strongest. |
|---|---|
| Short grass and low groundcover | The surface, plus whatever is growing on it. Tell us the cover at scoping and the report says how it was handled. |
| Dense scrub or tree canopy | The top of the vegetation, not the ground beneath it. That's LiDAR territory, and we'll say so at quoting. |
| Pits, inverts and anything under cover | Not visible from the air. These need a ground pickup. |
| Open water | No reliable surface. Photogrammetry can't reconstruct moving water. |
| Boundaries and title | Legal survey work for a registered surveyor. Referred, never drawn by Hover. |
How the accuracy is checked
Ground control is laid and observed before the flight to suit the site: at least three control points and two check points, more as size and layout demand. Every frame is then position-stamped by RTK against a base station on known control as it's captured. The check points are held out of the bundle adjustment, so the reported accuracy is an independent test of the model.
The tolerance for your job is written into the proposal before anyone flies. If the data misses it, control is re-marked and the aerotriangulation re-run; if it still falls short, the site is re-flown at no cost. Contour interval and accuracy are set together: the US National Map Accuracy Standards expect at least 90 per cent of tested elevations to fall within half the contour interval, so a 0.25 m contour asks more of the surface than a 1 m one. Tell us the interval at scoping and the control plan is built around it.
CONTROL OVERLAY — DEMONSTRATION SITEWhat one Survey Quality Report shows
Every survey ships with a Survey Quality Report, so your designer can read the residuals for themselves. The figures below come from the processing report for a demonstration flight over an 8.4-hectare Redland Bay site. It was not a client engagement; they are published to show what the report contains.
| Images captured and calibrated | 2,345 OF 2,345 · 100% |
|---|---|
| RTK status | FIX ON EVERY IMAGE |
| Mean RTK positional std dev | 0.351 CM HORIZONTAL · 0.707 CM VERTICAL |
| Ground sample distance | 0.911 CM/PX FROM 33 M |
| Tie points | 410,832 |
| Reprojection error | 0.854 PX |
Those figures describe the positioning layer of one flight. A client survey adds the layer that matters most: the ground control residuals and the results at the withheld check points, which are the numbers to judge any drone survey by, including ours.
Drainage, ponding and cut-fill before design
Height-mapped surfaces show drainage paths, ponding risk and cut-fill balance before design starts, which is when they are cheapest to deal with.
Because capture takes hours, a fresh survey before tender or after bulk earthworks is easy to fit into the program.
DSM — HEIGHT FIELDWhere we draw the line
Hover delivers engineering and pre-design survey data. We are not a registered surveying practice: boundary definition, cadastral work and title matters are legal survey work, and we refer them to a registered surveyor.
Where the surveys are flown
Home base is Brisbane, so South East Queensland is routine work: Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay, the Redlands, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Brisbane jobs, including controlled airspace across the metro area, are covered in more detail under drone surveying in Brisbane. Sites in regional Queensland and Northern NSW are quoted as a single fixed price for a scheduled regional job.
Questions we get at scoping
Q/01Where does a drone topographic survey beat a ground survey, and where doesn't it?
On open, hard ground: up to 1 cm + 1 ppm horizontal and 1.5 cm + 1 ppm vertical, tested against check points withheld from the bundle adjustment and reported in the Survey Quality Report. A ground crew still wins wherever the air can't see, such as under canopy, inside pits and beneath structures. What the drone adds is coverage: a measured surface across the whole site instead of a walked grid of points.
Q/02Can a drone survey measure the ground under trees?
No. Photogrammetry models what the camera sees, which under canopy is the top of the vegetation rather than the ground. On short grass it measures the surface plus the cover, and the report says how that was handled. Where bare earth under dense vegetation is the deliverable, we'll point you to a LiDAR operator at quoting.
Q/03What contour interval can you deliver?
Whatever your design standard calls for, provided the surface supports it. The US National Map Accuracy Standards expect at least 90 per cent of tested elevations to fall within half the contour interval, so the interval and the accuracy gate are agreed together at scoping and the ground control is planned to suit.
Q/04Can you do our boundary survey?
No. Boundary and cadastral definition is legal survey work reserved for registered surveyors under Queensland law, and we refer it accordingly. What we deliver is the engineering data around it: current-condition surfaces, contours and imagery for design, tenders and earthworks.
Q/05Do you need the site shut down?
Almost never. Capture is flown from standoff with no plant interaction, and most sites operate normally throughout. Where exclusion zones are required, they are small and short-lived, and they're agreed with your site team before mobilisation.
Q/06Which formats do you deliver?
A GeoTIFF orthomosaic, a classified point cloud (.LAS, or .RCP for Autodesk), DTM and DEM surfaces, and CAD-ready contours and line work. They load into Civil 3D, 12d, Trimble Business Center and standard GIS platforms, and the Survey Quality Report comes with them.
Q/07How long from booking to data?
A scoped method and written fixed quote come back within one business day. Once it's accepted, mobilisation dates are proposed within five business days, and processed data is issued two to three business days after capture, or up to five for large or complex sites. Raw imagery and RTK logs are kept for at least three years, so a later survey can be checked against this one.
Q/08How much does a drone topographic survey cost in Queensland?
Small-to-mid topographic drone surveys in South East Queensland typically fall in the roughly $800 to $3,500 range, exclusive of GST, depending on site size, access and the deliverables and accuracy you need. Regional sites are quoted as one fixed price for the trip. The drone survey cost guide breaks the number down, and a written, fixed quote comes back within one business day.
Scope this for your site
Send the asset and the deliverable you need. A scoped method and quote come back within one business day.
HARRY BILLING — CHIEF REMOTE PILOT
0411 445 458
[email protected]
CASA ReOC #9398 · $28M PUBLIC LIABILITY