Agcopter delivers high-accuracy, bare-earth aerial LiDAR engineered specifically for Pacific Northwest data center, renewable energy, and large-scale civil projects. We provide civil-ready terrain data your estimating, engineering, and construction teams can trust on day one—fully compatible with Civil 3D, AGTEK, TBC, MicroStation, and PVCase.
Drag the divider. On the left: photogrammetry / RGB surface (DSM) where vegetation obscures true grade. On the right: Agcopter's LiDAR bare-earth ground model (DTM), with vegetation removed and ground measured directly.
Photogrammetry works well on open dirt, pavement, rooftops, and any visible surface — we fly it ourselves when it's the right tool. It struggles where grass, weeds, brush, crop residue, orchard canopy, or timber hides the ground: the surface in the model is the top of the vegetation, not the grade you'll bid on.
LiDAR pulses penetrate vegetation, and the ground returns are classified into a true bare-earth surface. On mixed sites we'll combine both in one flight — LiDAR for grade under cover, photogrammetry for crisp visible-surface imagery and orthomosaic.
Most of our work falls into one of these patterns. If any of them sounds like the site on your desk right now, we can probably get you a usable surface before your deadline.
Photogrammetry and conventional drone surveys measure the top of the canopy, not the ground beneath it. On any site with grass, brush, orchards, or timber, the surface you're bidding on is wrong by whatever the vegetation height is — and that error multiplies straight into your earthwork volume. LiDAR's job is to erase the vegetation and measure the true ground.
On bare-dirt or paved ground with quality control and even lighting, photogrammetry can produce excellent results — often at lower cost than LiDAR, and we fly that for you too. LiDAR still wins where you need sharp grade-break definition (pads, curbs, ADA slopes), defensible repeatability across flight dates, or reliable results across steep terrain or poor lighting. Send your boundary and we'll recommend the right tool for your site.
Estimators, contractors, engineering / survey firms, and developers all use ground data differently. Same delivery, different reasons to pick up the phone.
Quantity confidence high enough to bid sharper without padding contingency. Cut/fill, slope, and drainage numbers backed by a real surface — not a guess.
Existing-conditions surface before the dozer rolls, then re-flights for progress quantities and reconciliation. Documentation that survives owner review.
Bare-earth DTM, contours, and full point cloud for review and design. Vegetation penetration where photogrammetry can't see grade. Delivered to support your work, not replace it.
Bare-earth surfaces and drainage analysis delivered to your civil engineer or licensed surveyor as supplemental input for site selection, IC memos, and design RFPs.
Native support for the formats and tools your estimating, survey, and machine control teams already run on.
Same delivery across all four. Different decisions inside the project, different teams asking. Here is what we typically deliver for each.
Parcel feasibility, grading quantities, drainage review, mass-grading pads, access roads, and as-built documentation across the Hillsboro corridor, Morrow County, Umatilla, and Columbia River sites.
PVCase-ready bare-earth topo, drainage screening, tracker layout support, grading validation, and re-flights for progress and as-built billing milestones.
Access roads, crane paths, turbine pads, substation pads, transmission corridors, and stale-topo replacement on repower sites. Bare-earth returns under canopy where photogrammetry can't see.
Existing conditions, pre-bid topo, cut/fill checks, drainage review, progress quantities, and as-built documentation for large civil, industrial, agricultural conversion, and contractor-led projects.
Agcopter is not a licensed land surveying firm. We deliver aerial LiDAR collection, point clouds, bare-earth terrain surfaces, drainage products, imagery, and supporting QA documentation as supplemental input for use by your licensed professional engineer, project surveyor, contractor, or design team in responsible charge of the project. In Oregon, regulated land surveying, certified topographic mapping, certified material quantities, boundary work, legal descriptions, and stamped engineering or survey deliverables remain with the licensed professional in responsible charge. We partner with a licensed PE or PLS when a stamped or certified deliverable is required.
The qualifications that decide whether your legal and procurement teams sign off.
A price, a schedule, and an honest read on whether we can deliver a usable surface before your deadline — within one business day.
