Drone Mapping Services Auckland & NZ Wide
High-precision drone mapping services across Auckland and New Zealand.
Recon provides accurate aerial data, orthomosaic maps and 3D models for construction, surveying, agriculture and land development. Our team of highly experienced CAA Part 102 certified UAV pilots delivers compliant, reliable aerial surveys throughout New Zealand.
Request a drone mapping quote →
Why Use Drone Mapping?
Drones capture large areas quickly and accurately, producing topographic maps, orthophotos and elevation models in a fraction of the time of a ground survey. They really come into their own where sending people on foot is slow, costly or unsafe: active mine and quarry faces, stockpiles, remote rail and road corridors, coastlines and steep or unstable ground.
Because a drone can be on site at short notice, it is also ideal for repeat surveys that track progress, earthworks volumes, erosion or change over time. Talk to our team →
Our Drone Mapping Expertise
Recon's qualified UAV pilots operate under CAA-approved Part 102 certification and comply with all aviation regulations. Qualification and training certificates can be provided on request. With more than 45 years of combined UAV experience and over 900 UAV jobs under our belt, our team has the expertise to deliver safe and dependable results.
We fly an enterprise fleet including the DJI Matrice 300 RTK with Zenmuse P1 full-frame mapping camera and L2 LiDAR payloads, and the compact DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise for smaller sites. Typical projects include stockpile and earthworks volumes, topographic and corridor surveys, construction progress monitoring, coastal monitoring and asset mapping. Recon holds SiteWise Gold accreditation for health and safety.
We mainly work in Auckland and Waikato, but we're happy to take on projects nationwide.
Planning a drone survey? Request a quote from our Auckland-based team →
Our Drone Mapping Workflow
1. Project planning and site assessment
Define survey objectives, accuracy requirements, airspace constraints and safety considerations.
2. Flight planning
Design flight paths, altitude, overlap and ground control requirements to meet survey specifications.
3. Ground control and validation
Establish and survey ground control points (GCPs) or checkpoints for spatial accuracy.
4. UAV data capture
Conduct the drone flight to collect high-resolution imagery or LiDAR data.
5. Data processing
Process imagery into orthomosaics, point clouds, digital terrain models (DTM) and 3D surfaces.
6. Quality assurance
Validate accuracy against control points and ensure outputs meet survey standards.
7. Delivery and analysis
Deliver survey-ready data and models for measurement, volume calculations and planning.
What is Drone Mapping?
Drone mapping is the process of using UAVs to capture aerial data and create accurate maps and 3D models of the ground or structures below. The drone flies a pre-planned route collecting high-resolution photos or LiDAR data, which is processed into orthomosaic maps, point clouds, DTMs and 3D surfaces for measurement and analysis. Our SHARE 102S five-lens camera captures vertical and oblique imagery at the same time, so a single flight produces both accurate orthophotos and photo-realistic 3D reality models of buildings, structures and terrain. Flying low and close to the site gives very high resolution and lets us fly when and where it suits your project. For large areas, long corridors, forestry, motorways or dense urban centres, see our aerial mapping services for helicopter capture.
Benefits of Drone Mapping
UAV mapping has transformed surveying by delivering faster, safer and more cost-effective spatial data. By capturing high-resolution aerial imagery and generating accurate 3D models, drone surveys support better decision-making with minimal disruption to operations.
Improved safety – Reduces the need for surveyors to work in hazardous or hard-to-access areas
Speed – Rapid data capture and faster turnaround compared to ground surveys
Cost efficiency – Lower field time and reduced mobilisation costs
High accuracy – Survey-grade outputs suitable for volume, topographic and corridor surveys
Minimal disruption – Operations can continue while data is collected
Repeatability – Easy to re-survey sites for monitoring and change detection
What Deliverables Will You Receive?
-
Often survey controlled to achieve high accuracy orthophotography, raw photos are ‘stitched’ together to create a seamless, spatially accurate image for import into your CAD or GIS software.
-
Using vertical only or a combination of vertical and oblique images, Recon can build highly visual 3D meshes for use in planning, design or many other applications.
-
The photogrammetric process allows us to generate 3-dimensional surfaces including mapping the ground and generating a TIN surface or contours.
-
Photogrammetry enables vectorisation of 2D and 3D features, down to accuracies of sub 10mm in some circumstances. These features can be exported in any common CAD or GIS format.
-
After the creation of orthophotography and 2D or 3D features further GIS analysis can be performed.
-
Recon operates a variety of cameras for different applications. Flights can be pre-programmed to follow waypoints or capture in a grid format, for example when capturing a large roof area or building facade.
Deliverables depend on whether photogrammetry or LiDAR capture is used. For ground models under vegetation, drone LiDAR is usually the better option.
Know what you need? Get a quote for your drone survey →
Industries
-
Agriculture & Forestry
High resolution RGB orthophotography for asset management and harvest planning
LiDAR DTM for harvest road and haul planning
-
Land Development
Ortho and LiDAR-derived ground contours for design and pre-earthworks calculations
3D visualisation from reality modelling
Architect concepts for demonstration purposes
Oblique photos for marketing purposes
Digitising of features such as kerbs, road crown and break-lines
-
Local Government
Project specific flights covering new land development, infrastructure and assets
GIS aerial photography updates
DSM for development planning, line-of-site analysis
Unobtrusive data gathering for environment court cases, illegal earthworks, sensitive coastal developments etc
River and stream monitoring
Coastal mapping, erosion monitoring, cliff-face mapping flood modelling and tsunami modelling
-
Mining
DSM/contours for mine, quarry and stockpile volume calculations for mine/quarry stockpiles
Accurate snapshot in time
Data turned around within 24-48 hours of flight
Safer and faster than ground surveying slope faces
More cost-effective than field survey and more accurate than large format aerial photography
-
Power and Utilities
Power conductor, assets and pipeline aerial survey via drone LiDAR
DSM and ortho for monitoring hazards or ground movement
Orthophotography for property asset management
Ground, vegetation and pole height data for thermal upgrade/re-tensioning design
Mapping vegetation, modelling growth through repeat surveys
As-built surveys
-
Transport
High resolution orthophotography via drone survey for planning and analysis of proposed road and rail routes
LiDAR-derived DTM of wider corridor, enabling a more comprehensive design
Supplements ground survey and is accurate enough for detailed design
Regular flights during construction assist with progress monitoring
DTM for month-end earthworks calculations
Case Studies
-
NZ Steel UAV - Taking Stock
Recon’s UAV consultancy service provides New Zealand Steel with a safe and fast way of acquiring stockpile volume data.
-
UAV Survey – KIWIRAIL'S Key Link
As a supervisor on University of Canterbury masters student Julia Watson’s MSc thesis, Richard recently got to explore the benefits of this rapidly developing technology when a UAV was deployed by Recon’s consultative team as part of the project.
Darren Lloyd - Thornley & Associates
“We have engaged Recon to undertake Aerial Surveys on multiple occasions and Jeremy and his team provide quality imagery and Lidar data. I would thoroughly recommend using Recon for Aerial surveying services.”
Case Study Results
NZ Steel UAV – Taking Stock, Waikato
New Zealand Steel uses Recon's UAV drone mapping to measure stockpile volumes at the Waikato North Head mine site, with fast, accurate data while mining operations continue and surveyors stay out of hazardous zones.
< 3% volume measurement error (often better)
~15 minutes flight time per survey
No operational shutdowns required during surveys
Improved worker safety, with no surveyors needed in active mining areas
Faster data turnaround for stockpile monitoring and planning
Reliable data capture even under low cloud conditions
UAV Survey – KiwiRail's Key Link, Canterbury
Recon surveyed a remote corridor along KiwiRail's Midland Line between Slovens Creek and Avoca for a University of Canterbury MSc research project, providing rapid, cost-effective data for assessing erosion, debris flow and other geotechnical risks to rail safety.
2–3 km rail corridor surveyed along the Midland Line
Faster data delivery compared with traditional ground surveys
Lower survey costs for remote infrastructure monitoring
Improved identification of hazards such as erosion gullies and debris flow risks
Reduced disruption to rail operations during data collection
FAQs
How accurate is drone mapping?
Drone mapping can achieve survey-grade accuracy when flown with proper planning and ground control.
How much does drone mapping cost?
Costs are typically lower than traditional surveying, especially for large or remote sites, and depend on site size, complexity and accuracy requirements. Contact us for a project-specific quote for drone mapping across Auckland, Waikato and the wider North Island.
Is drone mapping legal and safe?
Yes. Our drone mapping is carried out under CAA aviation regulations by our Part 102 certified pilots, with safety procedures in place to minimise risk to people and operations.
What types of projects is drone mapping suitable for?
It's ideal for construction, mining, rail, infrastructure, environmental monitoring, stockpile measurement and corridor surveys. Looking for a drone survey company in New Zealand? Recon has you covered.
What deliverables will I receive?
Deliverables can include orthomosaic maps, 3D models, point clouds, contours, volumes and CAD or GIS-ready files.
What is the difference between drone mapping and aerial mapping?
Drone mapping uses UAVs flown low over a site for very high resolution and flexible scheduling. Aerial mapping also includes helicopter capture, which is more efficient for large areas, long corridors, forestry, motorways and dense urban centres where drone rules are more restrictive. We'll recommend the best option for your project.
Request a Drone Mapping Quote
Tell us about your site and what you need, and our Auckland-based team will be in touch. We fly across Auckland, Waikato and NZ wide.
Location
Auckland & NZ Wide
Phone
0800 732 669
Email
info@recon.nz
Aerial Mapping Surveying
Project-focused to meet the diverse needs of industries including agriculture, forestry, land development, local government, mining, power, utilities, and transport. Our comprehensive solutions encompass high-resolution orthophotos, LiDAR-derived point clouds, and digital surface models facilitating accurate digital twins of your assets using an aircraft.