Table 3.
Estimated duration of work phases in the ground-based and drone-based survey methods, expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD), n = 12. System time refers to automated steps and does not involve human labor.
| Work phase | Ground survey | Drone survey | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field operations | Field preparations | ~ 1 h | ~ 1 h |
| Field survey | 1 h 58 min ± 47 min | 8 min ± 4 min | |
| Drone image processing | Align photos (automated) | – | 1 h 17 min ± 55 min |
| Build dense cloud (automated) | – | 23 h 4 min ± 17 h 27 min | |
| Build Tiled Model (automated) | – | 20 min ± 15 min | |
| Build DEM (automated) | – | 1 min ± 1 min | |
| Build Orthomosaic (automated) | – | 8 min ± 5 min | |
| Data processing | Spatial digitization of shoots | 25 min ±8 min | 14 min ± 7 min |
| Shoot spatial analysis | ~ 10 min | ~ 10 min | |
| Total human work time | ~ 3 h 30 min ± 55 min | ~ 1 h 30 min ± 10 min | |
| Total system time (inc. processing) | ~ 1 h | ~~24 h 50 min ± 18 h 43 min (23 h automated) | |