The DAAS business model can be split into three convenient segments:
Data Acquisition The first step is for an operator to travel to the target location, set up his equipment, fly the mission, and collect the required data. Set up time and mission planning can take minutes or hours depending on the complexity of the location. Typically flights last 15-100 minutes and can cover small plots up to hundreds of acres. Weather, potential airspace restrictions, and privacy issues need to be taken into account and sometimes a second flight is required.
Post Processing and Analysis Until you actually perform this step, many don’t realize the size and complexity of this task. Each flight often collects gigabytes of data and it all requires some post processing. Even a simple case like creating a short video and a few still pictures for a real estate sale requires editing down 10-15 minutes of video into a 1-3 minute highlight with lead-ins and post video closes and a little Photoshop work to bring out the best quality of the pictures. On the other end of the scale, it’s easy to collect 5+ gigabytes of data in a single flight over a 500 acre farm that requires hours of processing that cannot practically be done on a PC. While there is a growing base of analysis software coming to market, we have very little history and almost no hard data on ROI today. Who is to say that the wonderful NDVI analysis helped increase the farmer’s yield by 10% or was it because it rained at the right time? Proving hard cost savings and higher sales is going to take a few more years to validate.
Interpretation and Consultation This is where the key value proposition resides. There will always be a place for subject matter experts to provide value-added services to their clientele. In the DAAS case this is particularly true right now. Most of us are trying to interpret information captured from above and correlate it to measurements taken on the ground. Building a strong business relationship with a customer can lead to a long term collaboration. With today’s virtual communications and data sharing capabilities, the productivity to perform this service can be maximized. That said, every effort should be continually taken to automate analyses because labor is not easily scalable. From our recent field research, providing quick turn around on missions is of key importance to end customers.
What data is being collected? By far and away the biggest use of drones is to capture optical data from high resolution still and video