C‑DRONE
Top-down orthophoto-style view of farmland parcels captured by drone

🗺️ SURVEYING & PHOTOGRAMMETRY · BORDEAUX (33) · €800–3,000 PER DAY

Drone surveying & photogrammetry in Bordeaux

Drone photogrammetry turns a few hundred aerial photos into precision survey products: georeferenced orthophotography at 1–3 cm/pixel, digital surface and terrain models, 3D point clouds, contour lines, stockpile and earthworks volume calculations. With an RTK/PPK drone and ground control points measured by centimetre-grade GNSS, accuracy reaches 2 to 5 cm both horizontally and vertically — sufficient for most development studies, at a fraction of the cost of an exhaustive ground survey.

We cover from 1 to several hundred hectares per day depending on the required resolution, including hard-to-access sites: working quarries, landfills, riverbanks, industrial wasteland. Deliverables come in your coordinate system (Lambert 93 / RGF93, conic conformal projections) and standard formats (GeoTIFF, LAS/LAZ, DXF, GIS formats). Chartered surveyors, civil engineering offices, quarry operators and local authorities are regular clients.

Free quote — surveying & photogrammetry in Bordeaux

Rates

€800–3,000 per day — the range observed on the 2026 French market, including regulatory preparation, flight and delivery. The exact quote depends on the site, the deliverable and the airspace context in Bordeaux.

Common use cases

The local context in Bordeaux

The Bordeaux-Mérignac CTR, shared with air base 106, covers the west of the conurbation: urban flights require coordination with both civil and military aviation. Sensitive sites abound — the Dassault plant and Mérignac aerospace zone, the Bacalan submarine base, the Aquitaine bridge — and the UNESCO-listed quaysides fall under the built-up-area scenario.

The Gironde metropolis is a complete market: booming real estate around Euratlantique and the Bassins à flot, prestigious wine estates (Médoc, Pessac-Léognan, Saint-Émilion) that are heavy users of vineyard mapping and monitoring, river tourism on the Garonne, and structural inspections from the Chaban-Delmas bridge to the Cité du Vin.

Applicable regulations

Survey flights mostly take place outside built-up areas, in open category A2 or A3 (photogrammetry drones weigh 900 g to 6 kg) flying automated grid patterns below the regulatory 120 m. Long corridors or populated sites fall under the specific category (STS-01/STS-02, or an operational authorisation for BVLOS on long corridors). The operator is registered on AlphaTango and checks regulated zones on Géoportail: quarries and industrial estates are often near airfields or under military low-altitude training routes (RTBA), requiring protocols or time slots. Legally binding georeferencing (enforceable boundary plans) remains the exclusive remit of chartered surveyors, with whom we work as subcontractors.

Frequently asked questions

What accuracy can a drone survey guarantee?

With an RTK drone and ground control points, we guarantee 2 to 5 cm XYZ accuracy, verified against independent checkpoints whose residuals are documented in the processing report.

Does a drone survey replace a chartered surveyor?

No for legally binding documents (boundary demarcation, land division): that is the chartered surveyor's legal monopoly. Yes for technical studies: our deliverables feed directly into civil works design, volume calculations and environmental studies.

Does vegetation interfere with photogrammetric surveys?

Yes: photogrammetry measures the visible surface, so the canopy rather than the ground beneath. For wooded areas, we offer drone LiDAR, which penetrates vegetation and reconstructs the bare terrain.

Can this service be flown anywhere in Bordeaux?

Almost: CTR de Bordeaux-Mérignac (aéroport et base aérienne 106); Sites aéronautiques sensibles de Mérignac; Quais classés UNESCO (scénario agglomération). Depending on the exact location, the pilot picks the right framework (open or specific category) and files the required declarations — included in the quote.

Other drone services in Bordeaux

Surveying & photogrammetry near Bordeaux

Surveying & photogrammetry: every city →

Going further