Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are widely available and have a direct application to landscape, urban design, and planning. They provide innovative survey possibilities: operating in a ‘hover space’ between human scales of landscape observation and low-flying light aircraft, they can provide near-range visual information to complement other sensory data sets.
Drones represent a powerful, cost-efficient design and surveillance tool for sites, and for client and public consultation, by providing new perspectives on spatial layout, landscape, and urban landscape conditions, as well as data capture.
This technical information note aims to help landscape professionals understand the use of UAVs within landscape and systems, and the procurement of UAV services, with particular focus on drone operations and uses for deployment in UK airspace. Although the TIN does include some detail for cautionary purposes, it is not to be taken as guidance; effort has only been made to ensure its accuracy at the time of publication.
Two key sources of drone guidance are the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and The Association of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (ARPAS).
Download TIN 02/2022. (PDF, 2 MB.)
