For excavation companies, aggregate yards, and site contractors, knowing the volume of stockpiles is a practical business need. Whether you're tracking material quantities, billing clients for earthwork, or managing inventory, accurate volume data matters.
Traditional stockpile measurement methods — walking the pile with a measuring tape, estimating from ground-level photos, or hiring a survey crew — are slow, expensive, and often imprecise. Drone-based measurement offers a faster, more accurate alternative.
How Drone Stockpile Measurement Works
A drone equipped with a camera flies over the stockpile in a systematic pattern, capturing hundreds of overlapping photos. These photos are processed using photogrammetry software to create a 3D surface model of the pile. Volume is calculated by comparing the 3D surface model to a reference plane (typically the ground level), giving you an accurate volume measurement.
What Accuracy Can You Expect?
Drone-based stockpile measurement typically achieves accuracy within a few percent of the actual volume, depending on site conditions, the size of the pile, and the quality of the ground control points used. For most practical purposes — billing, inventory management, project tracking — this level of accuracy is more than sufficient.
What You Receive
After a stockpile measurement flight, you receive a volume report showing the calculated volume of each measured pile, a 3D surface model of the site, and comparison reports if you want to track changes over time.
Getting Started
Remington Drones provides stockpile measurement services for excavation companies and contractors throughout Utah's Wasatch Front. Contact us to discuss your measurement needs.