Enhance Your Skills with UCD Geography's Summer Drone Course
The UCD School of Geography is offering two specialized drone courses this July 2025. Whether you're new to drones or looking to advance your data processing skills, we have an option for you.
Course Offerings:
- Basic Introduction to Drones (1-day course): This course is perfect for beginners, providing a foundational understanding of drone technology and operation.
- Data Processing, Visualization, and Modelling (2-day course): An advanced course designed for those who want to delve deeper into drone data analysis, creating visualizations/mapping, and building models.
Pricing and Discounts
The 1-day introductory course costs €100, while the 2-day advanced course is €350.
UCD staff and students are eligible for discounts:
- €30 off the basic course
- €50 off the advanced course
To avail of these discounts, please email (opens in a new window)geography@ucd.ie.
Additional Information
Both courses include morning and afternoon tea. Upon completion, all participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.
2025 Dates:
1-Day Courses
2nd July 9:30 - 17:00
3rd July 9:30 - 17:00
31st July 9:30 - 17:00
2-Day Courses
14-15th July 9:30 - 17:00
17-18th July 9:30 - 17:00
21-22nd July 9:30 - 17:00
24-25th July 9:30 - 17:00
28-29th July 9:30 - 17:00
Purpose:
At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
- use an inexpensive, off-the-shelf drone (with data gathering capabilities)
- use commonly available software
- create high-resolution orthophotos and 3-D point cloud data.
- perform basic GIS and modelling tasks
This workshop will help you decide if this technology is something you should invest in. If you already have a drone, this will help you get the most out of it.
Who is it for?
Anybody who wants to map landscapes at high-resolution and identify change. The workshop is suitable for those with no or limited experience with drones and Structure from Motion (SfM) methods.
The workshop will include:
Image Acquisition, including flight planning, ground control placement, and accuracy/area trade-offs. It will include a field demonstration of drone flights.
SfM workflows including image reporting, setting processing parameters, and the impacts of these settings on point cloud accuracy, editing point clouds, exporting orthophotos, and point cloud datasets.
Analysing and processing point cloud data to study geomorphic processes – point cloud filtering, producing bare-earth DTMs, DSMs, DEMs of Difference.
Practical Application of Research data through real-life examples from rural and urban settings to resource inventory, asset management, and more.
Booking Information
New users are required to create an account to book their course. UCD staff and students can log in using their UCD login credentials (username/password). Use this booking link or the basket below to book a slot that suits your schedule.