Know the height of every candidate before you book the visit.
Storey Estimation turns stereo- or shadow-derived building heights into an estimated storey count for each building on your list, so the surveyor goes where it matters.
The job today
A candidate list, and a visit for every line on it
A search ring comes down from RF planning and you start building the list. Every building inside it that might take a cabinet and a pole on the roof goes on the sheet. The first thing RF wants to know is how tall each one stands, and how it sits against what is around it. The council's planning record is old, or says nothing about height. Street-level photos give you a facade and no roofline. So a surveyor goes out, or you do, building by building, and the search report sits half written until the visits are done.
Some of those trips end the same way. The building is a storey or two short of what RF needs, or the footprint is too small for the equipment, and a day went on learning something the roofline could have told you from your desk. In the meantime the landlord's agent wants to know when you will be back with heads of terms, and the RF engineer wants heights now.
Storey Estimation gives each building on your list an estimated height and storey count before anyone is dispatched. It is a desk pass. The visit still happens for the sites that survive it.
What you get
What comes back
2.1Per-building height estimate
CSV or layer attribute
An estimated above-ground height for each building, worked out from stereo or shadow geometry. One row per footprint in your layer, in metres.
2.2Estimated storey count
CSV or layer attribute
Height divided by a typical storey height, rounded to a whole number. Where a building has unusually tall or short floors, the count can be off, and the page says so before you rely on it.
2.3Delivery matched to your footprints
CSV or GIS layer
We key the values to your own footprint dataset, so they load straight against the layer you already keep or sit beside the candidate tracker as a spreadsheet.
2.4Rough floor area
CSV or layer attribute
Footprint area multiplied by the estimated storeys, for a first size check on a candidate. It is a desk figure, not a measured one.
2.5Gaps marked, not guessed
flag column
A building with no usable shadow or stereo pair for the pass comes back flagged with no estimate, and goes on your site-visit list as it would today.
2.6Annual refresh
new delivery per year
The same footprints re-run on each annual pass, so a building that has gone up since the last one can be added.
How it works
- A
- Rooftop height above ground
- B
- Shadow length
- C
- One storey at a typical storey height
Figure. Schematic elevation. A height comes from the shadow a building casts (B) or from a stereo pair, and is divided by a typical storey height (C) to give the storey count.
Footprints in
You send the footprints you are considering, or a coverage area if you do not keep a layer yet.
Imagery
We capture stereo or shadow-geometry imagery over that area from very-high-resolution satellite or aerial passes.
Height per structure
A height is derived for each building from the stereo pair or the shadow it casts.
Storeys back to you
An estimated storey count and floor area go back per building, in the format you picked.
Where it fits in your workflow
Before you dispatch
Use it as the first pass on a search ring. Sort the list by estimated height, drop the candidates that cannot reach what RF planning needs, and send the surveyor to the ones left. For the antenna clearance itself, the site visit stays the confirmation. For floor area, the estimate gives you a number to open a conversation with, not one to sign off.
Limits
L1Storeys come from a height assumption
The count is the estimated height divided by a typical storey height. A warehouse, a plant room floor, a tall ground-floor retail unit or a double-height atrium will throw it out.
L2Shadow needs a clear, well-lit pass
Shadow-derived height needs sun on the building and no cloud over it. A cloudy or low-sun pass can leave a building with no usable estimate for that date, and it comes back flagged.
L3Resolution
The imagery is VHR at 0.5 m or finer. At that pixel a building and its shadow are plain to measure, but parapets, rooftop plant, lift overruns and existing masts are only a few pixels across. The height is the building's, not a clearance figure around a particular piece of roof equipment.
L4Not a measured height
We do not publish an accuracy figure for height, and the output is not a certified or surveyed measurement. Check the candidates that matter before you commit.
L5Once a year
New builds and extensions show up on the next annual pass, not in between.
Who it's for
For
- Site-acquisition planners and site finders working a search ring who need heights before dispatching anyone
- Property and rollout teams sorting a large candidate list by size
Not for
- Teams that need a certified height for a planning application or a structural check
- Measuring clearance around rooftop plant, parapets or existing masts
- Interior floor plans or floor-by-floor layouts
FAQ
Questions before you start
Does this replace a site survey?
No. It is a desk-level estimate that cuts down how many sites need a physical visit. The sites you take forward still get visited.
How is the storey count worked out?
By dividing the estimated height by a typical storey height. A building with unusual floor-to-floor heights can come out wrong.
What happens on a cloudy day?
Shadow-derived height needs a clear, well-lit pass. If cloud covers a building on that date there may be no usable estimate, and it comes back flagged.
Can I check it against heights we already hold?
Yes. Keep back the buildings where you already know the height, then compare them with our estimates in your own layer before you use the rest.
How accurate is the height?
We do not quote an accuracy figure. Treat every output as an estimate to be checked, not a certified number.
Will it load into our GIS?
It comes as a CSV or as an attribute on your footprint layer, so QGIS, ArcGIS or a spreadsheet can read it. We do not write into your systems.
How often is it refreshed?
Once a year.
Who owns the results and the imagery?
Ownership and licence terms for the deliverables and the imagery are set out in the agreement before anything is ordered. If your legal team needs to read them, ask early.
How is it bought and priced?
We scope it for your area and talk it through with you. Tell us how you buy and we will fit the scope to that.
Send us your candidate list.
Tell us the area and the footprints you are considering and we will say how the estimate would come back.
Get started