15/06/2026
⚙️ HYBRID LiDAR + PHOTOGRAMMETRY AERIAL SURVEY: INTERLAKEN CASE STUDY
Happy Monday, everyone! 😉
We previously touched upon our comprehensive aerial survey project in Switzerland, but only gave you a quick teaser. Seeing the massive interest in hybrid survey methods right now, we’ve decided to put that right. Here is a detailed technical breakdown, focusing strictly on engineering data, flight parameters, and accuracy verification.
🔖 Key Highlights:
✅ The Site: 60 hectares of complex terrain, dense urban layout, road and rail infrastructure, and thick vegetation.
✅ The Mission: Rapid delivery of a digital archive and high-accuracy DTM within a single flight day.
⚙️ Hardware Setup & Flight Parameters
The equipment suite was built around the DJI Matrice 300 RTK UAV, with mission planning handled via UgCS Expert software:
1️⃣ Task Separation: A TOPODRONE P61 full-frame camera (61 MP, mechanical shutter) was used for RGB data capture to generate orthomosaics. Meanwhile, a TOPODRONE 200+ LiDAR (multi-echo mode) captured the terrain beneath the dense tree canopy.
2️⃣ Flight Specs: Altitude — 120 m, forward overlap — 80%, side overlap — 60%. Ground control was established using Ground Control Points (GCPs) with dedicated targets, measured via a GNSS receiver.
🖥 Data Processing & Accuracy Verification
Field data processing was split into two distinct workflows:
⏺Photogrammetry (TPP + Agisoft Metashape): The trajectory was computed in TOPODRONE Post Processing (TPP) software. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) on GCPs came in at: X — 2.7 cm, Y — 1.9 cm, Z (altitude) — 2.5 cm.
⏺Laser Scanning (TPP + LiDAR360): A Smoothed Best Estimate of Trajectory (SBET) was generated using GNSS (10 Hz) and IMU (200 Hz) data. In LiDAR360, the point cloud was noise-filtered and classified into ground, buildings, roads, and vegetation. The vertical RMSE was 2.8 cm.
👌 The Verdict: The RMSE for both methods remained under 5 cm, fully meeting the stringent requirements for 1:500 scale topographic mapping. The hybrid approach allowed us to clear up photogrammetry 'blind spots' under canopy using LiDAR in just a single day, delivering flawless DTMs, DSMs, contours, and orthomosaics to the client.
✅ Read the full case study on our website in the Blog section: https://topodrone.com/blog/lidar-meets-photogrammetry-a-deep-dive-into-the-interlaken-hybrid-aerial-survey/.
TOPODRONE