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10

Years in Business

Maps That Show Your Site as It Exists

Orthomosaic and environmental mapping services for accurate site visuals and land assessment in Columbia, South Carolina.

When your project in Columbia requires a georeferenced map that shows every detail of your site at a specific point in time, orthomosaic mapping stitches together hundreds of aerial images into a single, scaled, and distortion-corrected visual. You see property boundaries, vegetation patterns, drainage paths, and existing structures in their true spatial relationships, making it easier to plan development, monitor environmental changes, or document conditions before and after site work. The map integrates directly into GIS software, so your team can measure distances, calculate areas, and overlay design plans without revisiting the site for additional measurements.

Back Forty Aerial Solutions generates orthomosaic maps from drone imagery captured during systematically planned flights over your property. The resulting map is accurate enough to support permitting, environmental monitoring, and land assessment tasks that once required extensive manual fieldwork. Environmental mapping services extend this capability by tracking vegetation health, erosion, wetland boundaries, and other features that change over time, giving you a reliable method for change detection and compliance reporting.

If your project in Columbia needs a georeferenced site map or ongoing environmental monitoring, reach out to discuss coverage areas and delivery timelines.

How Aerial Images Become Accurate Maps

Your mapping project begins with a flight over the site in Columbia, during which the drone captures overlapping images from a consistent altitude. Back Forty Aerial Solutions uses photogrammetry software to align and stitch these images into a continuous orthomosaic map that eliminates lens distortion and perspective errors. Ground control points may be placed on site before the flight to ensure the map aligns precisely with real-world coordinates, making it compatible with survey data and existing GIS layers.

After processing, you receive a high-resolution map file in GeoTIFF or other georeferenced formats that open directly in mapping and design software. The map shows the site as it appeared on the flight date, with enough detail to identify individual trees, vehicle paths, material stockpiles, and infrastructure features. You can measure distances, calculate volumes, and compare the current map to older versions to detect changes in vegetation, grading, or land use.

Environmental mapping services build on this foundation by scheduling repeat flights over time, allowing you to track erosion, monitor restoration efforts, or document seasonal vegetation shifts. The service reduces manual fieldwork requirements and provides a permanent visual record that supports regulatory compliance and long-term land management. Mapping does not include subsurface analysis or detailed elevation contours unless combined with LiDAR data, but it delivers accurate surface information that informs decision-making across a wide range of applications.

Understanding Map Accuracy and Practical Use

Orthomosaic mapping involves technical processing and spatial alignment, so it helps to understand what affects accuracy and how the maps fit into your existing workflows.

What level of accuracy can I expect from an orthomosaic map?
With ground control points, orthomosaic maps typically achieve horizontal accuracy within a few centimeters. Without ground control, accuracy is lower but still sufficient for many planning and assessment tasks. Accuracy depends on flight altitude, camera quality, and site conditions.
How does environmental mapping differ from a one-time orthomosaic?
Environmental mapping involves multiple flights over time, allowing you to compare maps and detect changes such as vegetation growth, erosion, or land disturbance. It supports ongoing monitoring and compliance reporting rather than single-date documentation.
What file formats are included with the orthomosaic deliverables?
You receive georeferenced GeoTIFF files compatible with ArcGIS, QGIS, and other mapping platforms. Additional formats such as KML or JPEG can be provided if needed for presentation or web use.
When is orthomosaic mapping more useful than traditional surveying?
Orthomosaic mapping covers large areas quickly and provides a complete visual record of site conditions. It works well when you need to document surface features, track changes, or plan development without conducting time-consuming field surveys.
Why would I need ground control points for a mapping project?
Ground control points improve the positional accuracy of the map by providing known reference coordinates. They are recommended when the map will be used for engineering design, boundary verification, or integration with survey data.

Back Forty Aerial Solutions operates all mapping flights in Columbia under FAA regulations and maintains current insurance for commercial operations. If your site requires an accurate orthomosaic map or ongoing environmental monitoring to support land management and compliance, contact us to review your project scope and coordinate flight scheduling.