A Czech drone services company, UpVision, has been using UAVs to map the largest copper ore mine in Asia. The mapping mission spanned more than 10km² near the city of Erdenet, Mongolia.
In support of Czech geologists investigating the site, the UpVision team deployed a MAVinci Sirius, produced by the German manufacturer acquired by Intel back in 2016. The fixed-wing drone is known for its durability and ability to withstand challenging terrain – Ideal for flying at altitude above the Mongolian wilderness.
Dealing with challenging terrain
The irony is that the mapping team’s greatest challenge was the very terrain they were attempting to accurately capture: uneven elevations made the job more complex than it would normally be. The UpVision team was able to build two tangible results from following the MAVinci flights. First was a detailed digital surface model (DSM) and the second was an orthophoto in different image resolutions.
Because different elevations in the terrain created issues with image overlapping and resolution, the entire mine was mapped in high density with a total of eight flights at different heights and different image resolutions.
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