Free phone consult with a 25-year leak expert. Call 604-239-9934

Drone Leak Investigation · Nicola

Aerial Moisture Orthomosaic Mapping in Merritt, BC

The deliverable layer: survey-grade, georeferenced moisture orthomosaics — radiometric thermal fused with RTK photogrammetry — exported to CAD and GIS for engineers, consultants, and owners who need leak evidence they can measure from. Flown by Transport Canada-certified RPAS pilots and confirmed by the ground crews serving Merritt and the Nicola region — since 1999 as BC's leak detection specialists.

RTK cm
Georeferencing accuracy
Radiometric
Per-pixel temperature data
CAD + GIS
Export formats

Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT

Flying Merritt: local context

Post-flood rebuild context — verification scans on repaired roofs and infrastructure are common.

Local property profile: Compact townsite rebuilt in places post-flood, ranchlands, and highway commercial.

Ground conditions: Dry ground scans deep; the 2021 flood rearranged services along the Coldwater corridor, and post-flood utility verification remains in demand.

Typical aerial moisture orthomosaic mapping work around Merritt

  • Rebuild verification surveys
  • Ranch building scans
  • Building envelope and roofing consultants
  • Civil and geotechnical engineering files
  • Litigation and insurance evidence packages

How the Merritt survey runs

  1. 1

    Deliverable specification

    Coordinate system, accuracy requirements, export formats, and analysis goals defined with your technical team before the first flight — the survey is built backward from the document you need.

  2. 2

    RTK survey flight

    Systematic photogrammetry plus radiometric thermal at fixed parameters, with RTK positioning — every pixel of both datasets lands within centimetres of its true coordinates.

  3. 3

    Fusion processing

    Visual orthomosaic, thermal orthomosaic, and (where relevant) elevation model processed and co-registered; moisture anomalies digitised as measurable polygons with areas and coordinates.

  4. 4

    Engineering handoff

    GeoTIFF, DWG/DXF overlays, shapefiles or the formats your workflow uses — plus the annotated PDF for the humans. Raw radiometric frames available for your own analysis.

Merritt questions, answered

How is this different from an ordinary drone thermal survey?

Rigor and usability. A screening flight answers 'where should we look?' An orthomosaic deliverable answers 'exactly how large, exactly where, against exactly which drawing?' — survey-grade positioning, fixed capture parameters, co-registered thermal and visual mosaics, and anomalies digitised as measurable polygons. It is the difference between a flashlight and a drawing.

Can our engineers analyse the raw data themselves?

Yes, and we encourage it — radiometric frames carry per-pixel temperature data, and we deliver them alongside the processed mosaics. Consultants run their own thresholds and interpretations; our processing gives them a co-registered, georeferenced foundation rather than a black-box conclusion.

What accuracy can we actually count on?

With RTK positioning and proper ground control, planimetric accuracy lands in the low-centimetre range — sufficient to scale moisture polygons, quantify areas for repair pricing, and overlay repeat surveys for change detection. Accuracy specs are stated per project and verified against control, not just claimed.

Can you legally fly drone leak surveys in Merritt?

Yes — our pilots hold Transport Canada RPAS certification with advanced-operations capability, and Merritt flights run under whatever airspace authorizations the location requires. Post-flood rebuild context — verification scans on repaired roofs and infrastructure are common. Flight planning, NOTAM checks, and authorizations are part of the service, not your problem.

How do Merritt ground conditions affect what the survey reads?

Merritt ground is predominantly dry valley silts and gravels — flood-affected corridors along the Coldwater. Dry ground scans deep; the 2021 flood rearranged services along the Coldwater corridor, and post-flood utility verification remains in demand. For buried-leak work that matters: escaping water changes the moisture and thermal behaviour of exactly that ground, and our analysts interpret the surface signal against the local soil character — then our acoustic ground crews confirm the suspect zones before anyone digs.

What does aerial moisture orthomosaic mapping cost in Merritt?

Province-wide pricing — no regional premium for Merritt. Single-site surveys typically start in the high hundreds; network corridors, portfolios, and multi-asset programs are quoted by scope. The free phone consult (604-239-9934) produces a firm number in about five minutes.

Need aerial moisture orthomosaic mapping in Merritt?

Free phone consult — site, access, airspace, and a firm quote in five minutes. No pressure.

Related content

Related guides, comparisons & specialist hubs

Internal navigation map for visitors and search engines — every Leak.ca pillar is one click away.