Drone Thermography
Thermal cameras offer a new dimension to diagnostic, surveillance and emergency response.
What are the benefits of drone based surveys?
Non Invasive: Thermal imaging can provide a non-invasive inspection that that when coupled with the mobility of a drone can cover wide areas quickly.
Specific defect identification: Thermal data can provide data on issues with solar panels and even leaking areas on flat rooves
Insights for emergency management: Thermal drone data can be made available rapidly to on site emergency response teams, helping them to make informed decisions quickly.
Uncovering hidden issues: Thermal imaging can identify problems and potential defects within a building or an industrial asset. Steam leaks, water ingress points and heat loss areas on roofing can be highlighted easily with thermal imaging.
Deeper insight: All our thermal cameras are radiometric meaning actual temperature data is embedded in the images. This data can be examined after the flight using more detailed analysis and reporting tools.
Mission Planning
Good planning and preparation is key to the safe acquisition of high quality thermography data. An understanding of the principles of thermography is essential. There is no point planning to look for thermal loss on a building in daylight in the summer. In many situations it is important to capture data at night so careful preplanning is essential.
We have extensive experience of working in congested areas, sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and complex industrial sites - including top tier COMAH sites.
From process plants to large industrial sheds we can help.
Solar Installations
Solar panels are typically deployed in large installations or on the roof of a building. Both of these situations suit the use of a drone equipped with a thermal camera. A range of issues can be identified: manufacturing defects, cracks, faulty inter-connectors, defective bypass diodes and shadowing.
As you can see the defects on the panel are clearly visible on the image on the left.
Thermal Case Studies
Process Plant Inspection
We were commissioned to complete a thermal survey of steam lines and an open storage tank on a process plant.
Leisure centre roof and solar panel inspection
We were commissioned to conduct a roof and solar panel inspection of a leisure centre, using thermal and visible cameras.
