stratomaps is committed to providing comprehensive, high-quality Maps for Drones Missions. We focus on specific zones where drone operations occur, both within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
Our goal is to ensure that drone operators, whether engaged in manual or automated operations, have access to complete ground and airspace information specific to their VLOS or BVLOS operational zone. This enables pilots to make informed decisions during flight planning and execution.
In order to provide geospatial services for an Operation Zone, we first need to gather, aggregate, and process the map data pertinent to the operation zone. Our typical consulting process is as follows:
The process starts with an initial consultation to understand your specific needs and objectives. During this phase, we discuss your zone of operations and identify the key data requirements and metrics for your drone missions, along with other Service Level Requirements. Together, we set clear KPIs. Stratomaps’ team then conducts research and analysis for your geographic area. As an output, we will document and produce a detailed report that highlights the available data sources, coverage, resolution, and precision. We will also identify potential additional data capture needs to fulfill your requirements. At this stage, we will determine if we can meet your KPIs before entering into a pilot.
This consultation phase, which requires a small financial commitment, usually lasts 2 to 3 weeks. The consultation will help propose appropriate pricing for the pilot based on the various map data layers to be processed and any additional needs, such as machine learning on aerial/satellite imagery.
After the initial consultation, we can agree to move to a pilot program. The pilot program can be broken down into three main phases:
Data Processing: Gather and process different map layers from multiple sources to produce a comprehensive view of the area, creating a 'Map Digital Twin' with features and attributes specific to your zone of operation and missions. Stratomaps’ team will perform extensive manual and automated quality assurance on the data.
Tuning & Deployment: Make adjustments to the software by tuning parameters and potentially adding new features to support your specific needs. Deploy your operation zone into Stratomaps’ UAT (User Acceptance Test) SaaS infrastructure to use the geospatial services (Routing, Geo-Awareness, etc.). Connect to a dedicated Playground (a visual interface). Stratomaps’ team will perform extensive manual and automated quality assurance on the services.
Validation & Acceptance: We will make the visual Playground and APIs available to you for testing. The validation period will be an iterative and incremental process with open communication, where we will make adjustments as needed by further tuning parameters and asking you to validate. We will take your feedback and iterate until we achieve the most optimal results. The validation phase requires dedicated test resources on your side. Once the services has gone through formal acceptance, we can deploy it to production.
The pilot program can last from 3 to 6 months based on the requirements identified during the consultation phase.
Two main cases apply usually:
You already operate commercially in a given zone and have obtained the proper waivers and authorizations from the authorities for that zone. In this case, our software is typically used to help scale your operation.
You have not yet launched a commercial service and need to obtain the proper waivers and authorizations from the authorities for the zone where you want to operate. In this case, our software can be used as a tool to facilitate the Operational Risk Assessment.
In both cases, we will put in place a data update process to ensure you receive up-to-date data with a frequency that depends on the type of data, your requirements and the applicable regulatory requirements.
To provide comprehensive, high-quality data for specific operation zones, we process and aggregate data from various commercially or publicly available sources. We digitize all the data needed for assessing ground and air risks. These sources include data provided by national airspace agencies, national infrastructure entities, terrestrial map data providers, and aerial imagery providers. The data includes, but is not limited to:
Digital Terrain Models
Building footprints
Buffer zones around buildings
Prohibited zones (e.g., nuclear plants, airports)
Restricted areas (e.g., temporal restrictions, military upper limits)
Civil Aviation UAS restrictions
Ground obstacles (e.g., power lines, antennas)
Natural ground features (e.g., forest canopy, natural reserve)
Roads, Rails
In addition, once a zone is created and a data quality check has been performed, a process for frequent monitoring can be established upon request. We will employ machine learning on satellite imagery to detect new objects (such as antennas) or any changes within the operation zone. The data can be used for various use cases:
Mission Planning: Visualization of the operation zone. An interactive 3D maps visualization is provided, equipped with tools for drawing paths, corridors, operational volumes, contingency, and buffer zones.
Mission Execution: Extraction of KML flight paths, KML zones, and high-resolution Digital Elevation Model files, ready for import into the drone ground control system.
Geospatial Requests: Once the custom operation zone is digitized, access to all stratomaps' products, including terrain following, pathfinder, and optimization, can be enabled. These can be made available either through an API or a custom user interface.
