Multiple survey aircraft over UK during COVID-19
 

Apols if someone asked this previously, but I couldn't find specifics. During lockdown there were lots of survey aircraft (P-68s, Tecnam P2002 etc) apparent, registered to companies in many different countries. Obviously their missions were approved due to the lack of higher priority traffic; I'm just curious who the customer of all these aircraft is/are. I could guess at Ordnance Survey, Google, maybe geophysical companies, but wondered if anyone knew.

I haven't seen a Google Maps car doing the rounds recently, maybe there is something fancy they can do in 3D from the air? If Land Registry, checking whether I've built something in my garden without planning permission, surely they'd use Google.

To be clear, it's not the security services BN-2, C404, DA-42, PA-31s, I think the good guys looking for bad guys are well known. It's the end customer of the data collected by the lower priority task aircraft flogging around all day that I'm curious about.

cheers
Ian

https://www.pprune.org/spectators-ba...surveying.html

Second reply gives you an answer.

Some of the flights contracted, other done on-spec by the surveying companies to sell on to whomever at a future date. It was like the Klondike at times during the lockdown for this sector of the industry due to almost unrestricted airspace.

I believe Apple have also been busy building up an aerial photography library of some sort, certainly last year.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3787923f99.jpg
This was operating out of Prestwick and was surveying West Lothian for a couple of weeks.