Photogrammetry vs LiDAR vs ground-penetrating radar: which survey to choose for your project

"I need a 3D survey" is the starting point, but the right question is: which technology for which data? Photogrammetry, LiDAR and ground-penetrating radar are not interchangeable alternatives — they see different things. Choosing well is the difference between useful data and a costly write-off.

The three technologies at a glance

• Photogrammetry — reconstructs 3D from many overlapping photos. It produces orthophotos, realistic textures and colored point clouds.
• LiDAR — a laser measures distance point by point. It produces highly accurate point clouds, even through vegetation.
• Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) — electromagnetic waves that "see" underground: utilities, buried pipelines, voids.

When to use photogrammetry

It's the natural choice when surface, orthophotos, texture and cost matter most: façades, roofs, quarries, construction sites, progress monitoring. With an RTK drone you get georeferenced orthophotos and high-resolution models at a controlled cost. For many BIM/CAD projects it's more than enough.

When you need LiDAR

When there's vegetation to penetrate or you need maximum geometric precision over complex terrain. LiDAR "sees" the ground beneath the canopy and delivers a clean terrain model where photogrammetry struggles.

When you need GPR

When the data is below the surface: mapping utilities before digging, locating buried pipelines, searching for voids or — in our case — supporting water-leak detection alongside thermography and correlators.

Accuracy, cost and time compared

The practical rule: photogrammetry offers the best value for money on visible surfaces; LiDAR adds precision and the ability to penetrate vegetation, at greater cost; GPR is irreplaceable for the subsurface but doesn't replace the other two. Often the best answer is to combine them.

Integration into a BIM/GIS workflow

Whatever the technology, the real value lies in integrable data: we deliver in standard formats (IFC, DWG, DXF, LAS/LAZ, XYZ, GeoTIFF, OBJ/PLY) for as-built vs as-designed alignment, works supervision and planned maintenance. We explore this further on the BIM Integration page.

Quick decision table

• Surfaces, orthophotos, texture, budget → photogrammetry
• Terrain under vegetation, maximum precision → LiDAR
• Utilities, buried pipelines, leaks → GPR

When in doubt, we start from the objective (what you need to decide with that data) and choose the minimum combination that satisfies it — without making you pay for technology you don't need.