Beavercreek-based Woolpert has partnered with a Florida firm to operate unmanned aircraft for aerial surveying and mapping data collection, company officials said Friday.

Woolpert, an engineering and design services firm, has used traditional aircraft to collect LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data to create 3-D visual maps of large areas, including the entire state of Ohio. The company will partner with Altavian, a Gainesville, Fla.-based maker of unmanned aircraft, to operate the planes and process surveying and mapping data collected by the technology.

“I want to be one of the first in the geospatial industry to deploy UAS (unmanned aerial systems),” said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president and director of geospatial services, in a January interview with the Dayton Daily News.

Officials said UAS technology will revolutionize the geospatial market in the coming years and create new opportunities for Woolpert. Lovin said he expected the company to have a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles within 10 years.

Locally, Woolpert has donated funds, time and expertise to support Sinclair Community College’s UAS Training and Certification Center, Lovin said.

Officials said UAS provides a safer and less disruptive means of acquiring surveying and mapping versus ground collection. A UAS also provides the ability to repeatedly fly over sites for monitoring purposes, such as monitoring progress on a construction site, which is not always feasible with existing aircraft.

Last year, Altavian was awarded a five-year contract to continue work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District in support of using unmanned aircraft in civil works projects in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Woolpert has 623 employees at 22 U.S. offices, including 177 at its Beavercreek headquarters.