In our previous guide, we walk through the quick and simple steps to place an order for aerial imagery or data, no matter what industry you're in. In just a few short days, you'll have your assets in hand empowering you (or others) to make better, faster decisions for your business.
Depending on your industry and the use case for your order, your needs for perfect weather versus a fast turnaround may shift. For example, if you're in residential real estate, you may desire your aerial images to have clear blue skies whereas an insurance customer generally needs the images immediately after a storm (when weather is less than ideal) to get their customers' claims processed as quickly as possible.
Scheduling your Drone Flight
When you're placing an order through the Client Dashboard or through our landing pages for one of our affordable CRE or RRE packages, you'll be asked during the order process if you have a weather preference.
For most customers, we recommend the middle option, "Blue skies preferred", which will give you the best balance of a quick flight and blue skies. This option is typically great for customers in real estate and construction. We pass along these instructions to the pilot assigned your Mission who will visit and fly your site on the soonest clear or partly cloudy day (up to 50% cloudy). Examples:
If you're not in a rush to receive your imagery and want perfect skies, then that is an option for you as well. Just be advised, this may lead to an extended turnaround for your order, depending especially on the time of year and the part of the world your property is located. Our pilot will fly as soon as the weather is no more than 10% cloudy. Examples:
If you're in a rush to receive your imagery and time is of the essence, we will send the pilot out ASAP, but the sky may be gray with up to 100% cloud coverage. For property inspection, surveys, and mapping missions, the cloudiness is a non-factor. And for the last-minute marketing need, waiting for perfect weather may not be an option. Examples:
Time of Day
With clarity of imagery front of mind, our pilots' flight instructions also account for optimal lighting. For this reason, all DroneBase flights are set with a default time from from 11AM-2PM. We are able to adjust this time frame, however, depending on the specific request. Still, it is important to keep in mind that flight is limited to one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset. Any earlier or later, the sun will be too low in the sky, and so your footage may be compromised by glare.
If you're ready to place your next order, whether you need clear skies or imagery ASAP, we've got you covered. Head over to www.dronebase.com/industries to select your industry and get started.
