Energy & Infrastructure
Full geospatial survey of approximately 3,000 km of power lines for a major electricity distribution company in El Salvador.
A major electricity distribution company in El Salvador needed a comprehensive survey of its transmission and distribution network spanning approximately 250 square kilometers. The network — composed of roughly 3,000 km of high, medium, and low-voltage power lines — faced vegetation encroachment risks that threatened service continuity and safety.
The linear and dispersed nature of the infrastructure made ground-based inspection impractical at scale. A precise three-dimensional model of each line's corridor was required, alongside high-resolution orthoimagery, to systematically identify, classify, and prioritize vegetation in conflict with the infrastructure.
Project Details
Client
Electricity distribution company
Location
El Salvador
Duration
4 months
Area
~250 km²
Geospatial Solution
We deployed a fleet of UAVs equipped with high-density LiDAR scanners and photogrammetry cameras to systematically cover the entire concession area. The integrated workflow enabled simultaneous capture of dense LiDAR point clouds and very high-resolution orthophotos in a single flight operation.
The resulting point cloud was classified to separate ground, vegetation, and electrical infrastructure, enabling automatic extraction of Digital Surface Models and proximity analysis between vegetation and power lines. All data was delivered in formats compatible with the client's corporate GIS systems.
.LAS/.LAZ files classified with ground, low/mid/high vegetation, and electrical infrastructure categories. Density >20 pts/m², ready for Civil 3D and ArcGIS.
High-resolution DSM (5 cm/px) representing the full surface including vegetation, used for corridor profile analysis and electrical risk management.
Georeferenced high-resolution orthoimages covering the complete line corridor, enabling visual inspection and supervised vegetation classification by segment.
Geospatial encroachment report classifying critical, at-risk, and safe-zone vegetation per line segment, exported to GIS formats for pruning and maintenance planning.
Why Ave Drones for Electrical Infrastructure?
LiDAR's ability to penetrate dense vegetation canopy, combined with the efficiency of aerial coverage across vast territories, makes it the ideal tool for power line network inventory and management at any scale. Ave Drones integrates corridor LiDAR survey expertise with advanced GIS processing to deliver actionable data that reduces inspection time, improves operational decision-making, and enhances service reliability.
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