Edinburgh-based RCAHMS holds one of the largest and collections of aerial imagery in the world.

BBC: RCAHMS merger with Historic Scotland mooted

"The biggest problem in the past with aerial imagery in agriculture is that everything is time-sensitive, and with unmanned aerial vehicles we'd be able to process that data much more quickly, " said Steve Cubbage, president of Prime Meridian, a company that sells precision agriculture data services to growers.

WSJ: Farmers Experiment With Drones

The project uses aerial photographs known as ortho-imagery to produce the maps, and is being delivered as a joint project between the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Land and Property Services (previously known as the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland).

BBC: Every field in Northern Ireland to be re-mapped