Manned aircraft vs unmanned aircraft for surveying

Unmanned aircraft have a lower cost barrier to entry for the hardware. An entry level sUAS can cost under $2,000 which includes the aircraft, sensor, autopilot software, spare parts, and more to perform data collection. This does not include the cost of data processing software or cloud processing. An example of an inexpensive manned system would be a used Cessna 172 which costs about $40,000. Some companies prefer to use newer and larger aircraft which cost upwards of $800 thousand. The cost of the camera may be in the $60,000 range.

Software costs for unmanned aircraft are far less than manned aircraft. The cost of the software to navigate unmanned aircraft are often times free. Paid apps are usually under $30. The software to actuate a camera mounted on a manned aircraft is thousands of dollars. The cost of the navigation software (and possible hardware upgrade) for manned aircraft again is several thousands of dollars.

The cost of a FAA remote pilot certificate is far less than the cost of a manned pilot certificate. Remote pilots often study using online materials which are available at no charge. Some pay nominal fees of $150 for an at home study course. A manned pilot certificate will cost tens of thousands of dollars for training with an instructor and aircraft rental. Usually a sport license is not enough to fly commercially. While it is legal to fly and capture imagery from a manned plane with a sport license, usually an IFR rating is necessary for safety reasons. If the weather turns bad during a flight, without an IFR rating the results could be severe. The pilot may need to layover in a distant airport or worse. Maintaining a remote certificate costs $150 every 2 years for an exam. Maintaining an IFR certificate requires an extensive flight exam, and the pilot must remain current.

Maintenance costs of sUAS are far less than on manned planes. The cost of a battery or cable or propeller might be a few hundred dollars while manned planes cost thousands of dollars to maintain. Maintenance entails 100 hr. and annual checks, and parts and labor are more expensive. Even if the plane is rented these costs are covered in the rental fee.

Since manned systems cost more to operate the hourly expense is higher than with unmanned aircraft. A lower cost barrier to entry allows more companies to get into the data collection business. sUAS reduce airmen casualties because there are no airmen. Smaller parcels can be covered economically. Manned airplanes have a higher minimum cost for a job, so smaller jobs are not economically feasible. In certain instances where the terrain is difficult and the point cloud density needs to be high, manned planes cannot get in low enough.

The advantage of manned planes is that manned planes can cover large areas much faster. They fly at much higher altitudes. Flying at 3,000 to 7,000 feet AGL is common. The camera systems may cost much more, but again the cost can be amortized over larger acreage. Thus, for parcels which are under 3,000 acres unmanned planes are quite competitive. Above 30,000 acres manned plane costs are clearly justified. The crossover point is widely variable dependent on the job. Each job is different. Manned planes are more economical when multiple jobs are surveyed simultaneously, it is easier to get to and from the survey location by manned plane, along with many other variables.

Quality of the imagery varies as well. sUAS get imagery closer to the ground so the resolution is better, but the orthoretifying process of those images causes greater distortion due to the wide-angle lens. High overlaps of the photos reduce the distortion.