Vineyard & orchard country · Oliver & Osoyoos · South Okanagan
Oliver and Osoyoos grow vineyards and orchards tighter than almost anywhere in Canada, which makes the weak corner of a block the hardest thing to find from the ground and the most expensive thing to miss. One flight reads the whole planting, ranks it strong to weak, and hands you a map that tells you where to put your boots. Captured and processed in-house, a short drive down the valley from Summerland.
Why this corner of the valley
The stretch from Okanagan Falls down through Oliver to the Osoyoos border packs in vineyards and orchards at a density few places in Canada come close to: Bordeaux varietals and stone fruit growing on benches, fans, and lake-bottom soils that change block to block. That intensity is exactly why an aerial read earns its keep here: the more rows you manage, the harder it is to see the whole picture from the ground, and the more a single capture is worth.
Long heat units and thin rainfall mean water and canopy decisions carry real weight every week of the season. A whole-block vigor read shows where the heat is biting and where the canopy is holding, before it shows up in the fruit.
Soils shift sharply across short distances down here, and so does vigor. Multispectral zones drawn from the air line up with how the ground actually behaves, not with the row numbers on a map.
With some of the densest planting in the country, the gap between what you can walk and what you can see from above is at its widest here. One flight covers ground that would take days on foot, mapped to where every vine and tree stands.
Crop health · The core read
You walk away from one flight knowing which zones are pulling, which are holding, and which need a closer look this week: ranked across the whole planting, drawn into zones, with plain-language observations written for you and your agronomist to act on. The same multispectral capture that maps a Summerland vineyard reads your blocks down here. Here's what a single flight puts in your hands across vineyard and orchard ground in this corner of the valley.
NDVI, NDRE, GNDVI, OSAVI, and LCI from a single flight, cross-checking each other so a low-vigor zone that reads across several indices is a stronger signal than one that shows up in just one. Observed vigor variability is identified by zone for grower and agronomist review: never a diagnosis, never a prescription.
An accurate count of vines or trees across the block, mapped to where each one stands: the starting point for replant planning, inventory, and per-vine record-keeping in country where the rows run long and tight.
Missing vines, dead trees, and skips in the planting pattern flagged by location across the whole block. What's easy to lose track of on foot across a large planting is obvious from above.
Vigor patterns drawn into manageable zones, so in a place this dry, water and inputs can follow the canopy rather than the calendar. A map of where the block behaves differently, and where a line or an emitter may be telling on itself.
Tree-by-tree vigor across the block, plus gap detection and tree counts: the same workflow that maps a vineyard, tuned to orchard canopy, for the stone-fruit and pome ground that shares this valley with the vines.
This year's calibrated flight set against last year's, block to block: the map that turns one capture into a record and shows what's trending where, year after year, on the same ground.
Multispectral maps show relative vigor and are prepared for grower and agronomist review: they identify zones to look at, not what to do about them. Flights include a reflectance-panel calibration capture, so maps stay comparable across dates and block to block.
What you receive
Every vigor flight ends in a plain-language PDF: the block in true colour, five vegetation indices, area-by-class tables, and observations written for grower and agronomist review. The sample on our agriculture page is our own South Okanagan vineyard's report, page for page, the same format your Oliver or Osoyoos blocks would come back in.
What this looks like · Demonstration captures
We don't show projects we haven't done. What we show instead is our own work, captured up the valley and delivered exactly the way yours would be: proof of the workflow, not a claim about your block.
A 5.3-acre block, RTK-flown and processed in-house: five indices, zone maps, and a full grower-ready report.
6,052 images at 100% RTK FIX, 3.6 cm georeferencing RMSE, processed in-house into an interactive 3D twin.
A creek corridor with steep relief, built from the bare-earth terrain model.
All three are the company's own demonstration captures from elsewhere in the South Okanagan, shown to prove the workflow, never presented as completed work in Oliver or Osoyoos. Verified figures: 0.3 cm/px delivered pixel detail, RTK / RTK FIX, 3.6 cm georeferencing RMSE.
Beyond the vines · Mapping & volumetrics
Vineyards and orchards aren't the only ground that moves down here. Oliver and Osoyoos carry their share of gravel and aggregate operations, subdivisions, and development sites, and the same RTK capture that maps a block delivers planning-grade orthomosaics, elevation surfaces, and stockpile volumetrics for them.
One georeferenced top-down image of the whole site, scaled true, with every frame stitched into a single map you can measure off.
For planners · developers · contractors. Deliverables: georeferenced orthomosaic · shared client folder
Measured volumes taken from the 3D model, repeatable pile to pile, prepared for qualified professional review where a certified figure is required.
For gravel pits · aggregate · contractors. Deliverables: measured-volume figures · model + screenshots
A digital surface model plus a bare-earth terrain model for slope, drainage, and cut-and-fill work.
For earthworks · drainage · site teams. Deliverables: DSM · DTM · georeferenced in NAD83(CSRS)
The same site flown on a schedule from a fixed vantage: a running record, with a georeferenced as-built at the end.
For developers · contractors. Deliverables: recurring orthomosaics · as-built · shared folder
High-resolution roof and exterior condition imagery: see the roof without ladders, for the owner and their roofer to review. Visual imagery only, not a structural, engineering, or insurance assessment.
For homeowners · property managers · roofers & contractors. Deliverables: high-resolution roof & exterior imagery · shared client folder
Volumetrics are inventory and management figures taken from the 3D model: accurate, repeatable site data for planning and tracking, prepared for qualified professional review where a certified figure is required.
On the community's terms
This part of the valley includes Osoyoos Indian Band lands, and stewardship of land and cultural sites is work we make available strictly as imagery and 3D, captured and delivered under the Nation's own direction. Interactive 3D and georeferenced imagery of land and cultural sites, organized and dated in a shared folder, for stewardship, planning, and archival use on the community's terms. We deliver the capture; the direction stays with the Nation.
Local, not flown in
Kendal Ventures works out of Summerland, a straightforward run down Highway 97 to Oliver and Osoyoos. The company was built on more than seven years of Okanagan vineyard and civil experience, so this isn't unfamiliar country. Every flight is planned against current airspace rules before capture day, so if a block sits where additional authorization is needed, you hear about it at the scope call rather than on the day.
A Summerland base means a short drive, local clear-sky windows we can read, and a flight scheduled when your block actually needs it, not whenever someone can get to the region.
The same Transport Canada-certified RPAS pilot flies your block and processes the data through DJI Terra, QGIS, and Blender. Nothing waits in an outside queue, and deliverables land georeferenced in NAD83(CSRS).
Questions & answers
Yes. Kendal Ventures is based in Summerland, a short drive down Highway 97, and the South Okanagan from Okanagan Falls through Oliver to Osoyoos is core service area. We schedule the flight around your block and a clear-sky window, not around when someone can get to the region.
No. The maps show observed vigor variability (where the canopy is strong and where it's struggling) and identify zones for grower and agronomist review. They are not a diagnosis and never a treatment prescription. What's causing a low-vigor zone, and what to do about it, is a call for you and your agronomist; the map tells you where to look.
Yes. Vine and tree counts mapped to where each one stands, across the whole block, are part of the standard workflow. In country planted this densely, that count, plus gap and miss detection, is the starting point for replant planning, inventory, and per-vine records.
Yes. The same RTK capture delivers planning-grade orthomosaics, elevation surfaces, and stockpile volumetrics for the area's gravel, aggregate, and development sites. See the construction, commercial & public page for the full mapping side. Volumetrics are figures from the 3D model, prepared for qualified professional review where a certified number is required.
Imagery and 3D, yes, delivered strictly under the Nation's own direction. Interactive 3D and georeferenced imagery of land and cultural sites, organized and dated in a shared folder for stewardship, planning, and archival use. We provide the capture; direction and use stay entirely with the community.
More from the air
The same RTK capture and in-house pipeline that maps your blocks serves the rest of the valley too.
Agriculture
Calibrated multispectral vigor, zone maps, plant counts, and irrigation patterns, prepared for grower and agronomist review.
Orthomosaics, volumetrics, progress series, and asset documentation, for contractors, developers, and public bodies.
Request a quote
Every project starts with a short scoping conversation: which blocks or sites, when in the season, and exactly what you'll receive.