UAV Imaging flies for Alberta agriculture the same way it flies for Alberta industry: certified crews, calibrated sensors, and a deliverable somebody can act on. Crop scouting imagery, field drainage and topography, damage documentation for an insurance file, and condition imagery of the yard and its infrastructure.
What we do for growers and agronomists
Multispectral NDVI crop scouting
Calibrated multispectral capture over a field produces a vegetation index map that shows where the crop is not performing, well before that is obvious from the truck. Used to direct scouting effort, to build management zones, and to document a problem while it is still developing rather than after harvest. Our post on NDVI imagery for canola in Alberta covers the agronomy side in detail, and the NDVI glossary entry explains what the index actually measures.
Zone mapping for variable-rate work
Index imagery flown at the right growth stage becomes the basis for management zones, which is where a variable-rate prescription starts. We produce the imagery and the zone layers; your agronomist writes the prescription. Where a drone flight supports an eligible practice, funding programs can be relevant — see our post on whether drone surveys are OFCAF-eligible, which is about eligibility rules rather than a promise of funding.
Drainage and topographic mapping
Photogrammetric survey of a field produces a surface model, contours and a water-flow picture accurate enough to plan drainage, ditching and land levelling. The same capture supports earthworks volumes when dirt is actually moved.
Hail, flood and wind damage documentation
Aerial imagery captured shortly after an event gives a dated, geo-referenced, whole-field record of the damage rather than a handful of photos from the field edge. This is a documentation service supporting your claim and your agronomy decisions; the assessment itself remains your adjuster's and your agronomist's.
Yard, bin and infrastructure inspection
Close-range and thermal imagery of bin roofs, aeration systems, shop and shed roofs, pivot and irrigation infrastructure, dugouts and equipment yards. The same aircraft and payloads we use on industrial inspections, at a scale that fits a farm operation.
Livestock and remote-parcel checks
Aerial condition checks over pasture, fence lines, dugouts and rented ground that would otherwise cost a half-day of driving, particularly on parcels a long way from the home yard.
Common deliverables
- Calibrated NDVI or vegetation-index map with a field-boundary overlay
- Management zone layers in a format your agronomy software can import
- Full-field orthomosaic at a resolution that supports scouting decisions
- Digital surface model, contours and drainage-flow interpretation
- Dated, geo-referenced damage imagery packaged for an insurance file
- Annotated inspection imagery of bins, roofs and irrigation infrastructure
- Earthworks volumes where levelling or ditching is being carried out
Timing matters more in agriculture than anywhere else
An industrial inspection can usually be flown next week. Crop imagery cannot: an index map is only useful if it is flown at the growth stage the decision depends on, and the window can be days rather than weeks. That has two practical consequences.
First, book against a growth stage rather than a date, and tell us how much flexibility there is in it. Second, get the airspace question settled early — agricultural Alberta has a lot of private and ag-aviation strips, and that check is far cheaper at booking than on the morning of the flight. Our post on airspace near Alberta airports and aerodromes explains what is involved.
Spray aircraft are a specific consideration in season. If there is aerial application happening on or near your land, tell us — that is coordination, not an obstacle, but it has to happen before the flight.
What we do not do
We do not apply product. UAV Imaging is a data and imaging operator: we fly sensors, not spray or spreader systems. Aerial application in Canada is a separate regulatory pathway, and our post on where spray drones stand in Canada tracks it for growers who are watching that space.
We also do not write agronomic prescriptions or adjust insurance claims. We produce the imagery and the measurements that the people who do that work rely on.
Credentials and coverage
- Transport Canada certified RPAS crews on every flight
- $5M aviation liability insurance
- Edmonton-based, working across central and northern Alberta with regional standby for multi-day field work
- Airspace checks and any required authorisation handled by us before mobilisation