Environmental monitoring by drone
Lithuania has large and complex natural areas – river networks, forest massifs and intensive agricultural land. Environmental agencies, municipalities and ecology organisations often face limited resources for continuous territory control. Traditional ground inspection methods cover only a fragment of the area and often fail to capture early violations.
Monitoring with drones and thermal imaging technology fundamentally expands this process. In a short time, tens of kilometres of river sections, forest areas or industrial sites can be surveyed. Thermal imaging identifies sources of temperature anomalies invisible to the naked eye – from warmer wastewater discharges to smouldering fire sites or technological emissions.
Scope of environmental monitoring services
Identification of illegal discharges and pollution sources in rivers. Temperature differences in water bodies allow precise identification of potential pollution sources. Even small thermal deviations become clearly visible in thermal data, especially at low ambient temperatures in the morning or evening.
Forest fire prevention and early detection. Thermal flights detect smouldering sites before they become open fires. This is especially relevant during dry seasons, when early response directly affects the scale of damage.
Monitoring of industrial and agricultural facilities. Thermal emissions from factories, farms or energy facilities are analysed. This helps assess compliance with environmental requirements and identify possible regulatory violations.
Search for illegal dumps and waste accumulation sites. Drone data combined with high-resolution imagery and thermal imaging helps detect newly appeared or hard-to-reach waste sources in wooded or industrial areas.
Damage assessment after environmental incidents. After incidents such as chemical spills or fires, rapid aerial overview provides geographically accurate data on affected zones, facilitating situation assessment and planning of further actions.
Monitoring of protected areas. National and regional parks can be continuously monitored to identify illegal activity – unauthorised logging, construction or other violations.
Technical capabilities
High thermal sensitivity (<50 mK). Captures extremely small temperature differences, so even subtle heat changes in the environment become visible and analysable.
Optical zoom up to 112x. Enables detailed analysis of objects from a safe distance while maintaining high image quality.
Laser rangefinding. Precisely determines object coordinates and distances, ensuring accurate data capture for research and reporting.
Long flight time (up to 49 min). A single flight can cover large territory areas. With spare batteries, work can continue with minimal interruptions.
Application areas
Environmental protection agencies – identification and control of pollution sources. Municipalities – waste management and territory maintenance monitoring. State Forest Service – fire prevention and forest condition monitoring. Fisheries and ecological organisations – water body condition analysis. Industrial entities – verification of environmental compliance.
Pricing
One-off environmental monitoring projects (1–2 days) – from €800/day. Inspection of specific sites – from €400. Urgent deployments after incidents – ~30% surcharge applies.
For long-term monitoring programmes, monthly plans are offered (2–4 visits per month) – from €1,200/month. Discounts apply for long-term contracts.
Want to try this service? We offer a free trial flight at a site of your choice – you will see concrete results and technical data before making a decision.