Sentera has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones for commercial applications.

The company's equipment has over 20,000 hours of total flight time. In 2014, Sentera equipment captured 15 million photos, mapped more than 24,000 square miles, logged over 12,000 hours of flight time and managed over 175,000 GB of data. 

Sentera's CEO, Eric Taipale, said, "Innovations in drones and sensors will deliver a cycle of new discoveries that translate directly into economic and environmental benefits, while making tasks easier and safer for our customers. 

Our location allows us to collaborate directly with our customers and partners to develop advanced, lightweight sensors that provide growers with tools to help them produce more food with fewer inputs. And, we have seen a significant demand for our technology in industries spanning from aerial inspection to public safety, where users understand how our products can reduce the risk of injury and deliver better data at a lower cost than current solutions." 

Sentera's airborne sensor products include multispectral, thermal, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and visual-band imagers. In agriculture, customers use data from Sentera sensors to identify nutritional deficiencies, pest infestations and disease onset in crops. 

Early detection of issues allows growers to customize fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide applications based on precise data. Generally, this leads to reduced inputs and lower costs, ultimately reducing environmental impact.

In infrastructure, Sentera's equipment provides precise, high-resolution aerial imagery of towers, power lines, bridges and pipelines. By using drones instead of climbers, inspections can occur while the human operator remains safely on the ground.