Drone Survey Work

Drone Survey Work

The Seafood Technical Services Business Unit (STSBU) has now the ability to operate drones for survey work around the Irish coast. There are currently 4 technical staff which have their SUA Pilot Competency Certificate since 12th July 2019. The main BIM projects that have utilised drone technology to further aid the aquaculture Industry are involved in husbandry techniques, mapping site layouts, climate change projects, providing images and video for presentations and marketing and even assisting in beach clean-ups. 

BIM currently own two Phantom 4 Pro’s, One Splash Drone 3 and a Mavic 2 Pro. Using these drones for survey work and mapping has allowed for sub-meter accuracy. BIM will be further developing their drone technology capabilities in the future which will improve accuracy’s even further with Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning which uses satellite navigation techniques.

Some of the main projects involved to date have been involved in generating maps of oyster trestles in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo and Carlingford, Co. Louth, monitoring duckweed growth overtime in Mount Lucas Trout and Perch farm based in Co. Offaly and to monitor any changes to seaweed cover overtime involving the climate change project Bluefish in the Castletownbere area.

To learn more about potential surveys that you would like to be carried out using BIM drones and any ideas you might have to expand this service to a broader range of projects.

The Drone Survey programme is part funded through the Knowledge Gateway Scheme which is established under Union Priority 2 of Ireland’s Operational Programme under the EMFF and is co-funded by the Irish Government and the EU.