We’re the UK’s leading training provider in Drone Aerial Imaging Courses for
Commercial Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry applications.

ARC Aerial Imaging delivers and instructs several specialised ‘Phase 2’ and ‘Phase 3’ UAS training courses in aerial imaging. To find out more about each training course, click on the course link below or scroll down.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Who is this course for?

Perhaps the largest growing sector within the drone industry and it’s one where you have the potential to specialise and charge higher rates for your expertise. This course is designed for individual commercial drone operators to corporate drone-operating entities who are seeking to up-skill and expand their current service offerings by including mapping, surveying and photogrammetry applications with drones to a high degree of confidence and to high service standards that are demanded by clients.

Do I need prior knowledge?

No prior knowledge of mapping, surveying or photogrammetry is required - attendees can be absolute beginners to experienced surveying professionals that would be introducing drones into their workflows and this broad audience spectrum will still be able to understand the information that will be conveyed and delivered by a highly-knowledgeable and experienced tutor.

Not restricted to specific types of drone platforms, planning software or photogrammetry processing applications, this comprehensive training course can be delivered in its 3-day format at its venues or it can be brought to your team at its business premises which will enable your services to fully maximise the commercial benefits that mapping, surveying and photogrammetry can bring to its drone operations. Furthermore it can also be instructed via a virtual classroom online and on an ad-hoc, one-to-one training basis.

2025 Training Dates

North Yorkshire
(Saltburn-By-The-Sea)

18th - 20th June 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(Received bookings by no later than 4th June)

24th - 26th September 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(Received bookings by no later than 10th September)

19th - 21st November 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(Received bookings by no later than 5th November)

Cambridgeshire
(Littleport)

2025 Training Dates

20th - 22nd May 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(23rd if also attending the Agisoft Metashape Pro Photogrammetry Processing Course)

22nd - 24th July 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(25th July if also attending the Agisoft Metashape Pro Photogrammetry Processing Course)

21st - 23rd October 2025 - SPACES AVAILABLE
(24th October if also attending the Agisoft Metashape Pro Photogrammetry Processing Course)

To attend this course on these dates and at this venue, please contact Sky Revolutions directly via their Academy webpage.

Course Applicable Drones

It’s important to utilise the appropriate UAV platforms types and sensing towards topographic-related mapping and surveying. Below are those UAVs and sensors that are compatible to use during the practical mapping/surveying element of the course:

• DJI Phantom 3 Standard

• DJI Phantom 3 Advanced

• DJI Phantom 3 Pro

• DJI Phantom 4 Standard

• DJI Phantom 4 Advanced

• DJI Phantom 4 Pro

• DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2

• DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral

• DJI Phantom RTK

• DJI Mavic Pro

• DJI Mavic 2 Pro

• DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

• DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise

• DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise

• DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral

• DJI Mavic Air 2 (Android Tablet/Phone Only)

• DJI Air 2S (Android Tablet/Phone Only)

• DJI Mini 2 (Android Tablet/Phone Only)

Based on that the SDK (Software Development Kit) has not been released for the DJI Air 3, the DJI Mavic 3 Pro, Classic and Cine and the DJI Mini 4 Pro drones for third-part mapping planning apps/software, these drones will not be compatible to use for the semi-autonomous mapping/surveying practical exercises during this course.

Don’t have a compatible drone?

No problem - we can have available a couple of drone types that attendees could utilise towards the practical exercises of the course.

Course Training Fees

Venue-Held Training (North Yorkshire) - £495

The course's LOW TRAINING fee is inclusive of the following:

• Various Drone Mapping Mission Planning Spreadsheets;

• Imaging Processing and Geospatial Analysis Software;

• Reference Guides;

• A ‘Certificate of Attendance’ towards continuous professional and business development;

• All day refreshments.

PLEASE NOTE - This is not a residential course and accommodation will need to be individually sought for by attendees.

Online Training - £395

Although instructing a specialised course is still best delivered in-person to audiences at a training venue, it could also be delivered through an online ‘virtual classroom’ without compromising the high degree of this course’s learning if three consecutive days away from the office is not possible. As a flexible training option we can accommodate this format of training to fit around those busy diaries.

Virtual attendees will still receive the same amount of comprehensive learning and course materials as the in-person venue hosted course however the practical drone mapping exercises won’t be undertaken. If you think this training would be of benefit by having it being instructed in this bespoke way, initially get in touch with your specific training requirements via our contact webpage.

North Yorkshire Course or Online Training Booking Form

Booking is acceptance of our Course Terms and Conditions

Bringing this course to your in-house team of UAV operatives.

If your business or organisation is utilising drones in its operations and are seeking to continually develop its services and staff professional development, ARC Aerial Imaging can also bring this course to that organisation's premises and for an all-inclusive set instructional fee thus saving it with staff disruption, time away and additional costs (travel, accommodation and subsistence) for this employee training.

The course is fully ‘deployable’ meaning that we can bring along our own visual presentation equipment should your organisation not have this available - all we’ll need is an appropriate room to deliver the course.

If you think this training would be of benefit by having it being instructed at your organisation and to its in-house team of UAV operations staff, get in touch with your specific training requirements and enquire about discount pricing via our contact webpage.

Could we instruct this industry-leading course on your training behalf..?

We’re always looking to collaborate/partner with other relevant training providers on an non-exclusive basis and welcome those expressions of interest. If this course interests your training organisation by having it included within its training portfolio, get in contact.

The course’s training schedule and comprehensive learning modules are based on its instructor’s own experienced surveying task management, planning methodologies, imaging acquisition techniques and workflow processes with UAVs.

Day 1

AM

Fundamentals and Principles of Drone Aerial Imaging (Part 1).

• Types of drones for mapping, surveying and photogrammetry uses.

• Types of UAV aerial sensors - Passive and Active (RGB, Infrared, Multispectral, LiDAR…).

• Typical geospatial product outputs produced from aerial imaging.

• Digital aerial imaging and sensing basics.

• Components of an aerial sensor.

• Lenses and focal lengths.

• Types of sensor shutters.

• Types of aerial imaging - nadir and oblique.

Day 2

AM

Drone Mapping Planning.

• The ‘gist’ of Photogrammetry and what it needs from collators of digital aerial imaging

• Aerial stereoscopy and parallax.

• Photogrammetric principles - what it needs from digital aerial imaging.

• How SfM photogrammetry works - the ‘data pipeline’.

• Limitations of photogrammetry.

• Managing mapping and surveying tasks.

• Planning UAV aerial imaging mapping flights - the ‘imagery intelligence’ workflow cycle.

• The UAV - correctly planning semi-autonomous UAV aerial imaging mapping flights.

• The Sensor - applying the correct sensor settings for accurate and
  high radiometric quality of aerial imaging acquisitions.

• Site specific planning – understanding the operating environment and weather.

• Hardware - using the correct onboard imaging storage media.

DAY 3

AM

Imagery Collection Checks and Data Management.

• Post UAV flight management steps - validating actual imaging collection with that of a planned-for collection.

• Managing and organising aerial imagery collections.

• Understanding the importance to check the collected imagery’s integrity (exposure, focus, collect overlaps…) before ingesting into any photogrammetry processing software.

• Using AI (ChatGPT) for image quality checks.

• Imagery metadata/EXIF checks and applying amendments using freely available desktop software.

• Creating a basic ‘Imagery Collection Report’ to accompany collected aerial imagery.

Basic Mosaic and Orthomosaic Creation.

• Using a freely available method to create a basic, ‘non-controlled’ aerial image mosaic.

• Geo-referencing a mosaic using a GIS to create an orthomosaic.

  Image Processing to Improve Photogrammetry.

• Image radiometry and processing.

• How to improve the quality of collected aerial imaging that could potentially improve the accuracy of processed geospatial datasets.

Agisoft Metashape Pro Photogrammetry Training Course

From start to finish this 1-day course, which follows on from our market-leading ‘Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry Course’, covers an end-to-end photogrammetry workflow on how to generate survey-compliant geospatial datasets with Agisoft Metashape (Professional Edition) photogrammetry processing software.

Workflow topics, accompanied with practical instructor-led step-by-step demonstrations, include:

• Adding and aligning UAV aerial images into a project;

• Generating a Sparse (Tie) Point Cloud);

• Filtering/editing and removing erroneous tie points following optimised Gradual Selection settings;

• Importing Ground Control Point data and precisely registering/aligning UAV aerial images;

• Reviewing and understanding the potential accuracies of geospatial products following the initial ortho-rectification stage;

• Building a Dense Point Cloud;

• Building a 3D Mesh from the Dense Point Cloud for modelling;

• Creating a DEM (DSM) from an Unclassified Dense Point Cloud;

• Classifying a Dense Point Cloud with specific subject matter attributes;

• Creating a DEM (DTM) from a Classified Dense Point Cloud;

• Extracting ground elevation data (contours) from a DTM;

• Creating an Orthomosaic;

• Producing a Photogrammetry Processing and Geospatial Accuracy Report;

• Saving and exporting various photogrammetry-produced geospatial datasets and in their typical file formats.

It’s instructed in-person by a tutor who has over 30 years of accredited subject matter knowledge including 10 years as a highly-experienced commercial practitioner in photogrammetry with UAVs and their various sensing and is delivered on an optional training needs basis:

• Following attendance on our ‘Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass Course for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry’ at our North Yorkshire-held training venue which is instructed via online/remote learning means
  or

• Via online/remote learning means as a standalone training course.

Standalone Training Course - only £145.00

or

If attending/have attended our ‘3-Day Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass Course for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry’ - only £95.00

The course's LOW TRAINING feeS ARE inclusive of the following:

• A step-by-step Agisoft Metashape guide as an aide memoir;

• A provided sample set of surveying imaging including GCP data;

• A ‘Certificate of Attendance’ towards continuous professional and business development.

Course Training Booking Form

Booking is acceptance of our Course Terms and Conditions

It is strongly recommended that attendees on this course would already have a good understanding on how to plan and acquire high-quality UAV aerial imaging (our ‘Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass Course for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry’ provides this essential training) as well as having robust computing means in place - a minimum of an I7 (or equivalent) processor and with at least 32GB (or more) RAM.

Drone Multispectral Aerial Imaging and Analysis Course for Precision Agriculture.

Multispectral imaging is applied towards precision agriculture in by offering insights into crop health, soil variation and other environmental applications. This course is suited for those interested in obtaining scientific insights from vegetative subject matter as multispectral imaging provides valuable spatial information within various wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum.

With now accessible UAV-borne multispectral (MS) and thermal infrared (TIR) imaging, this pending 2-day course will cover the fundamentals of those sensing types that are engaged in precision agriculture and other environment-related studies. From mission planning for the accurate acquisitions of RGB, MS and TIR imaging, the generation of different spectral bands of geospatial datasets with SfM photogrammetry from source RGB, MS and TIR aerial images to understanding how combinations of MS imaging bands can produce various vegetation indices with specific raster calculations for conducting geospatial analysis using a Geospatial Information System (GIS).

It’s instructed in-person by a tutor who has over 30 years of accredited subject matter knowledge including 10 years as a highly-experienced commercial practitioner in photogrammetry with UAVs and their various sensing and is delivered on an optional training needs basis:

• Following attendance on our ‘Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass Course for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry’ at our North Yorkshire-held training venue which is instructed via online/remote learning means
  or

• Via online/remote learning means as a standalone training course.

Course Applicable Drones

It’s important to utilise the appropriate UAV platforms types and sensing towards multispectral-related mapping and surveying. Below are those UAVs and sensors that would be compatible to use during the course:

• DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral

Course Training Fee

Standalone Training Course via an Online Classroom - only £295

or

If attending/have attended our ‘3-Day Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass Course for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry’ - only £195

The course's LOW TRAINING fee is inclusive of the following:

• Various Drone Mapping Mission Planning Spreadsheets;

• Multispectral Imaging and processed Geospatial Datasets for the exercises;

• A ‘Certificate of Attendance’ towards continuous professional and business development.

Course Training Booking Form

Booking is acceptance of our Course Terms and Conditions

The course’s training schedule and comprehensive learning modules are based on its instructor’s own experienced surveying task management, planning methodologies, multispectral imaging acquisition techniques and workflow processes with UAVs.

Day 1

AM

Fundamentals and Principles of Drone Multispectral Aerial Imaging

• Understanding the various types of sensors (RGB, MS, TIR…) that are utilised in precision agriculture.

• The Electromagnetic Spectrum and where RGB and MS imaging are situated within.

• What is a Vegetation Index (VI) and what types of indices that are applied towards specific agricultural applications.

• What combinations of MS imaging can provide different Vegetation Index (VI) outputs

• Understanding RGB and MS aerial imagery Fields of View (FoV).

• Understanding RGB and MS spatial resolutions - Ground Sampling Distance (GSD).

• RGB and MS GSD considerations applied for precision agricultural tasks.

• How to calculate RGB and MS imagery FoVs and GSDs with mathematical formulae.

• What can affect FoV and GSD on nadir aerial imagery.

PM

Drone Mapping Planning for Multispectral Aerial Imaging

• Managing precision agricultural mapping and surveying tasks.

• Planning UAV multispectral aerial imaging mapping flights.

• The UAV - correctly planning semi-autonomous UAV multispectral aerial imaging mapping flights with optimised flight settings.

• The Sensors - applying the correct RGB and MS sensor settings for accurate and high radiometric qualities of RGB/MS aerial imaging acquisitions.

• Site specific planning – understanding the operating environment and weather.

• Hardware - using the correct onboard imaging storage media.

Day 2

AM

Imagery Collection Checks and Data Management.

• Post UAV flight management steps - validating actual imaging collection with that of a planned-for collection.

• Managing and organising the various bands of aerial imagery collections.

• Understanding the importance to check the collected imagery’s integrity (exposure, focus, collect overlaps…) before ingesting into any photogrammetry processing software.

• Creating a basic ‘Imagery Collection Report’ to accompany collected aerial imagery.

• Photogrammetry processing - turning RGB and MS imaging into spectral-banded raster maps (orthomosaics).

PM

Geospatial Analysis Exercises.

• Conducting field metrics from RGB/MS imaging with a Geospatial Information System (GIS).

• Differentiate Soil from Vegetation from RGB/MS imaging with a GIS.

• Measuring the height of crops from RGB/MS imaging with a GIS.

• Estimating crop biomass and yield from RGB/MS imaging with a GIS.

• Calculating the NDVI and NDRE from MS imaging with a GIS.

Advanced Mapping Planning with Litchi Course.

This additional 1.5-day and ‘bolt-on’ training course to our industry-leading ‘Drone Aerial Imaging Masterclass for Mapping, Surveying and Photogrammetry Course’ is aimed for those UAV operators that seek further full planning controls over their UAV survey flights and aerial imaging acquisitions by advancing from the standard mission planning apps to create semi-autonomous and terrain-following UAV flights for the collection of consistent aerial imaging FoVs and GSDs.

Primarily applied for automated creative aerial filming with drones, ‘Litchi’ and ‘Litchi Pilot’ is often overlooked as a credible mapping planning alternative to dedicated mapping planning apps and this short online course neatly bridges the gap between those basic flight planning apps (‘DroneDeploy’, ‘Pix4DCapture’, ‘DJI GS Pro’…) and the more complex UAV flight mission planning software such as ‘UgCS’ and Ardupilot’s ‘Mission Planner.’

Another benefit is the utilisation of sub-250g drones towards mapping, surveying and photogrammetry applications with ‘Litchi’ and/or ‘Litchi Pilot’ where their use within environments would be more appropriate and where larger drones would be prohibited.

Furthermore, it can also be applied towards the accurate planning and acquisition of high-resolution imaging towards structural/facade mapping and for forensic structural imagery analysis and reporting purposes.

This course instructed on a one-to-one basis and is delivered in-person via online video conferencing means during one and a half day’s (approximately 12 hours) training duration by an accredited tutor in its subject matter who has decades of planning knowledge and uses with various civil as well as military mission planning and imaging data acquisition applications.

Training Topics (Day 1).

Part 1 (AM) - Understanding the Fundamentals of Aerial Imaging.

• Digital Camera and Imaging Basics.

• Components of an Aerial Sensor - The Detector Array.

• Lenses and Focal Lengths.

• Understanding aerial imagery Field of View (FoV).

• Spatial Resolution - Ground Sampling Distance (GSD).

• How to calculate imagery FoV and GSD with mathematical formulae.

• What can affect FoV and GSD on nadir aerial imagery.

• Terrain Following with Litchi for consistent imagery FoV and GSD.

• Improving aerial imaging GSD.

Part 2 (AM) - UAV flight planning and imagery acquisition considerations.

• The basics of Photogrammetry – Aerial Stereoscopy and Parallax.

• Photogrammetric principles – what it needs from digital aerial imaging.

• How photogrammetry works – understanding the ‘Data Pipeline’.

• Limitations of photogrammetry.

• UAV Altitudes and Flight Track Speeds;

• Imagery overlaps for establishing correct collection leg distancing in Litchi;

• Applying the correct camera/sensor settings for imagery capturing.

Part 3 (PM) - Planning a Mission with Litchi.

• Overview of the Litchi desktop planning interface.

• Understanding and applying its General and Mission settings in Litchi.

• The Litchi app - setting sensor capturing settings.

• Timed interval exposures/UAV flight track speeds/imagery overlaps.

• Step-by-step walkthrough with the instructor to create a mapping planning mission.

• Saving missions.

• Viewing mission flight plans in Google Earth Pro for pre-flight assessments.

• Exporting/sharing/opening mission flight plans with others.

Training Topics (Day 2)

Part 4 (AM) - Planning a Façade Mission with Litchi.

• Step-by-step walkthrough with the instructor to create a façade mapping planning mission.

• Using Google Earth Pro and MS Excel/Apple Numbers to create a semi-autonomous UAV flight plan.

• Timed interval exposures/UAV flight track speeds/imagery overlaps.

• Viewing facade mission flight plans in Google Earth Pro for pre-flight assessments and applicability.

• Exporting/sharing/opening mission flight plans with others.

Course Applicable Drones

• DJI Phantom 3 Standard

• DJI Phantom 3 Advanced

• DJI Phantom 3 Pro

• DJI Phantom 4 Standard

• DJI Phantom 4 Advanced

• DJI Phantom 4 Pro

• DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2

• DJI Mavic Pro

• DJI Mavic 2 Pro

• DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

• DJI Spark

Based on that the SDK (Software Development Kit) has not been released by DJI for the Mavic 3 (Classic, Pro and Cine) drone, these drone will not be compatible to use with Litchi or Litchi Pilot.

Price to remotely attend - only £195.

The course's LOW ONLINE fee is ALSO inclusive of RECEIVING:

• Drone Mapping Mission Planning Spreadsheets;

• Mission planning software (Windows only).

Course Training Booking Form

Booking is acceptance of our Course Terms and Conditions

Advanced Cartography for AEC&M Projects Course.

We have teamed up with Latitude Geospatial who have developed a 1-day short course for those in Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Modelling (AEC&M) who are involved with surveying and data collection who want to understand how cartography can be applied to product generation that will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and enable decision makers to act systematically.

The course covers both theoretical and practical methodology and techniques, and aims to provide participants the working knowledge to produce products that are cartographically sound, but also able to effectively communicate spatial phenomena to managers at all levels.

It is aimed at surveyors, site engineers, CAD technicians, and those who want to understand how to generate quality products for their clients.

The course can be delivered on premise, virtually, or at one of our pre-selected facilities that are provided periodically throughout the year.

For more details about this course, contact Latitude Geospatial at
info@lat-geo.com or call +44 (0)191 359 2293