Gone are the days when expensive fixed-wing aircraft were the only ways to have eyes in the sky. The development of relatively low-cost drones is making aerial imaging easier than ever. Nowadays, pretty much anyone can have their own personal UAV, which is opening up huge opportunities in the aerial imaging market.
The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.28% from 2015-2020, to hit a total value of $1.94 billion in 2020.
Global aerial imaging market segmentation by end-user 2015-2020 ($ millions)
Source: Technavio
At this point, the oil and gas industry is by far the biggest end user for aerial imaging. And while the sector will maintain its dominance over the forecast period, our analysts expect aerial imaging to see significant adoption in three key areas over the next five years.
Urban planning
Aerial images help planners, developers, and engineers carry out analysis, strategic planning, and evaluation in engineering and urban planning.
These images provide information that is simply not available from the ground, and they can help urban developers identify land use opportunities, the feasibility of proposals, and required design changes.
Developers can also use aerial imagery to study planning issues, focus on potential redevelopment projects, and implement measures required for sustainable urban development.
Precision agriculture
We’ve discussed the what, how, and why of precision agriculture in detail in the past. Restrictions on water and pesticide use have made it critical for farmers to be able to identify and correct problem areas in their crops. This has given way to demand for farm intelligence and high-tech crop management.
Aerial imagery is essential for precision agriculture since it enables effective and efficient crop production to improve profitability. Farmers can measure the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) using aerial images collected by drones to look for subtle changes in visible and near-infrared radiations.
While the initial technology investment here is pretty high, aerial imaging is an effective and economical way for farmers to keep an eye on their crops and livestock.
Disaster management
Aerial data can be used at every stage of disaster management.
In terms of prevention, geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to manage large amounts of data required for vulnerability and hazard assessment, and integrated with other relevant information for disaster warning systems.
In the event of a disaster, aerial data is used to assess the severity and impact of natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, floods, fires, and cyclones. It acts as a tool for planning evacuation routes and designing centers for emergency operations.
In the disaster rehabilitation stage, aerial imagery can be used to evaluate sites for reconstruction. GIS, coupled with GPS, can also be helpful in search and rescue operations during the disaster relief phase.
Demand from these three areas will be instrumental to growth in the aerial imaging market over the forecast period.
