Drone bathymetry over a swampy mining water body

The challenge

Water bodies on mining sites often need depth data for monitoring, planning and water management. In swampy areas they are shallow, irregular, ringed by dense vegetation and hard to reach safely. Here the main limits were:

• soft, swampy ground around the survey area;
• shallow or vegetation-covered water that does not suit boats or USVs.

The aim was to see whether depth data could be collected without boat access and without placing survey teams in difficult conditions.

The solution

The team flew a DJI Matrice 350 RTK carrying an EchoLogger ECT D052S echo sounder. The payload worked with SkyHub, a radar altimeter and UgCS mission planning software from SPH Engineering. The workflow covered:

• flight lines over the survey area planned in UgCS;
• controlled low-altitude flight using the radar altimeter and SkyHub;
• georeferenced depth readings from the echo sounder.

The result

The trial showed that drone bathymetry can collect depth data in swampy mining environments where normal access is limited. The resulting map showed how depth varied across the water body, in an area that would be hard to survey from the surface.

SPH Engineering highlights two benefits for mine operators: safer fieldwork, because people do not need to enter hazardous water areas, and faster deployment where boats or USVs are impractical. The source is a short field-trial report and does not publish accuracy figures.

Where this applies in India

The same approach suits mine water that is hard to reach on foot or by boat:

• pit lakes and sumps at coal and mineral mines;
• tailings ponds and settling ponds with soft banks;
• marshy or weed-covered reservoirs on industrial sites;
• water bodies that need regular depth checks for water management.

SPH Engineering's bathymetry training is also available through HobiTech.

The equipment, available from HobiTech

Drone	DJI Matrice 350 RTK
Echo sounder	EchoLogger ECT D052S
Onboard computer	SkyHub by SPH Engineering with the SkyHub echo sounder software, with a radar altimeter for height control
Flight planning	UgCS - Drone Flight Planning Software

Case study by SPH Engineering, published May 2026. This page summarises it in our own words; the demonstration was carried out by Oseanland Survei Indonesia, not by HobiTech. Read the original case study on SPH Engineering ↗