Before you purchase a piece of land for a new home, consider how a land survey is important and necessary. Land surveys establish real property boundaries, locate utility pipes or lines, detect surface water, reveal old easements and improvement codes, and rate zoning classifications.

Traditionally, land surveys require several skilled surveyors with tools like theodolites or total stations, tape measures, and laser levels to determine angles and distance between points. In addition to careful measuring and recording, land surveyors conduct extensive research regarding property documents.

Now, land surveyors sometimes use drones to help them conduct land surveys. Drones have the ability to view land from high above the ground to collect and transmit data and photos. You might want to choose a drone survey when you buy a land parcel for your dream home in the desert. Here are three undeniable reasons for a drone survey especially relevant in the desert southwest.

1. Drone Surveys Are Safer

When surveyors attempt to collect data on a land parcel, they are subject to dangers unique to the desert southwest. Rough, rocky terrain on undeveloped land becomes more difficult to navigate with the addition of cacti and wildlife. Sharp spines from cacti pose a risk if a surveyor trips and falls. Poisonous spiders, snakes, and scorpions can hide in the shade or beneath rocks. Their presence becomes a danger when surveyors need to traverse these habitats.

While surveyors are trained to avoid dangers like steep ravines and dangerous flora and fauna, these threats represent a hardship that a drone can easily eliminate. Drones are equipped to survey a region from above. The information they relay to surveyors helps create a reliable survey without the need to penetrate extensively or for long periods onto a parcel of land.

2. Drone Surveys Are Quicker

Time required for surveyors to physically inspect a land parcel depends on size and type of terrain. A flat, residential lot in the suburbs is simple to survey in one day. An undeveloped parcel on the outskirts of town will take longer. When you are in a hurry to complete a land survey in order to close, you will benefit from a drone survey instead.

Once survey reference points are set up, a drone can quickly cover the entire parcel in very little time. Drone surveys are one way to dramatically reduce time spent exploring a piece of property, especially during hot weather. Summer heat and humidity often create triple-digit temperatures in Albuquerque, which can make fieldwork miserable and dangerous for surveyors.

3. Drone Surveys Are More Accurate

Drones that conduct surveys accomplish more than snap pictures. Special software mounted onto drones helps create a more accurate representation than a series of photographs ever can. Lidar and photogrammetry technology are able to detect detailed and accurate land characteristics for your benefit. For example, lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, allows a drone to work in low light conditions and gather data normally not seen on cloudy days.

Lidar also sees beneath obstacles like heavy vegetation or tree cover. A piece of land thick with mesquite would normally conceal details like surface water, fences, or utility structures. A lidar-mounted drone may detect surprises that change the value of a desert parcel, like a dry wash or old well.

Drone use for surveys requires skill and talent to conduct. Community Sciences Corporation offers both traditional and drone land surveys. Ask for a drone survey as part of your land parcel acquisition so you can benefit from these and other advantages. Our research and skill provides the most reliable surveys available when you’re ready to prepare a piece of land for your new construction.

Read More…