Drone Imagery Post-Processing Guide Created by Megan Ossmann at the request of World Wildlife Fund This document is designed to serve as a beginners’ guideline to processing raw imagery in Drone Deploy. It covers flight planning, flight execution, image processing, image export, and use in ArcGIS. The example data in this guide comes from a flight that was conducted in July 2018 at Navarre Beach, FL. Click the link below for a list of DJI-supported drones. https://support.dronedeploy.com/docs/supported-drones For unsupported drones, flight planning cannot be done with Drone Deploy. Post-processing of geotagged images can still be completed with Drone Deploy. 1) FLIGHT PLANNING Flight planning is easily done on a computer or with the Drone Deploy app. On the Dashboard home screen, click the + sign on the bottom and hit “plan a map flight.”
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DroneImageryPost-ProcessingGuide
CreatedbyMeganOssmann
attherequestofWorldWildlifeFund
Thisdocumentisdesignedtoserveasabeginners’guidelinetoprocessingrawimageryinDroneDeploy.Itcoversflightplanning,flightexecution,imageprocessing,imageexport,anduseinArcGIS.TheexampledatainthisguidecomesfromaflightthatwasconductedinJuly2018atNavarreBeach,FL.ClickthelinkbelowforalistofDJI-supporteddrones.https://support.dronedeploy.com/docs/supported-dronesForunsupporteddrones,flightplanningcannotbedonewithDroneDeploy.Post-processingofgeotaggedimagescanstillbecompletedwithDroneDeploy.1)FLIGHTPLANNINGFlightplanningiseasilydoneonacomputerorwiththeDroneDeployapp.OntheDashboardhomescreen,clickthe+signonthebottomandhit“planamapflight.”
Dragaboxovertheareayouwanttocover.Movethecornersoftheboxestomaketheareabiggerorsmaller.Onceyoucreatethisarea,theflightpathofthedronewillbeautomaticallycreated,withtheabilitytochangeitsdirectionunderadvancedsettings.Inthesidebar,thesettingscanbechangedtocreateyourflightplan.Theestimatedflighttime,areacovered,imagestaken,andbatteriesneededwillbeshown.Themaximumlegalflightaltitudeis400ft.Anidealaltitudewillbehighenoughtoclearthesurroundingobjects(trees,structures,etc.),butlowenoughtoprovideahigh-resolutionimage.Ifyourdroneiscapableofit,thenobstacleavoidanceshouldbeturnedon.
Expandthe“Advanced”settings.Here,youcanaltermoresettingsforyourflightplan,suchas:Sidelap:thepercentageofoverlapbetweeneachlegofflight.Increasingsidelapgenerallyincreasesyourchancesofagoodqualitymap.Therecommendedsettingsarebetween70and80%.Frontlap:thepercentageofoverlapbetweenoneimageandthenext.Increasingfrontlaphasminimaleffectonflightdurationandcanincreaseyourchanceofmakingasuccessfulmap.Therecommendedsettingsarebetween70and80%.FlightDirection:altersthepathwayofthedrone.FlightSpeed:recommendedflightspeedis15mphorless,toensurethathighqualityimagesaretaken.
StartingWaypoint:thefirstwaypointthatwillbeflownonyourmission.ManualCameraSettings:Unlessotherwisespecified,theautomaticsettingsfromDJIGOwillberetainedintheDroneDeployapp.Youcantoggleontheexposureand/orthefocussettingtoadjustthecamerasettingsinDJIGO.Here,youcanalsosetthefrequencyofphotostakenandadjustanyothercamerasettings.
Oncethisiscomplete,savetheflightplan.ThefilecanlaterbeopenedontheDroneDeployappandconnectedtoyourdrone.2)FLIGHTEXECUTIONOnceatthesite,poweronthedrone,acquiretheGPS,andcalibratethecompass.StartwiththeDJIapptoconfigureanycamerasettingsandverifythatthedronepassesthepre-flightchecklist.Openthemapwindowandverifythatthehomepositionistheactuallocationofthedrone.Ifitisoff,waitformoresatellitestoconnectandimprovethelocationaccuracyofthedrone.Oncethesestepsarecomplete,opentheDroneDeployapptoexecutetheflight.Here,youcanchoosethesavedflightplanorplananewmissiondirectlyontheapp.Thedroneshouldautomaticallyconnect.Hitthebuttononthebottom,andyouwillbetakentoanotherpre-flightchecklist.Oncethispassesyoucanhitthebuttononthebottomtostartyourflight.Notethatyoudonothavetobelocatedatthestartingwaypointtoconductyourmission.Thedronewilllaunchfromwhereveryouarelocated,automaticallyflytothestartingwaypoint,andthenbegincollectingimages.Oncethemissioniscomplete,itwillreturntotheoriginallaunchpoint.
Keepinmindthatyoudonotwanttobetoofarawayfromthestartingwaypoint,asitstilltakesbatteryforthedronetoflytothestartingpoint.3)IMAGEPROCESSINGUploadtheimagesfromtheSDcardtoyourcomputer.Forbestqualitymaps,manuallyreviewthephotosanddeleteanythatarenot“nadir”(lookingstraightdown),aswellasanythatareblurry,showpartofthehorizon,orhavelightingissues.GobacktoyourprojectonDroneDeployandselectthephotosthatyouwanttoupload.
Continueontoprocessing.Specifythemaptypeas“terrain”or‘structures”.Terrainisbestsuitedforlargetractsoflandsuchasagriculturalfieldsorforprocessingsitesurveyswithgroundcontrolpoints.Terraincanalsoproduce3Dmodels.Structuresareoptimizedforbuildings,statuesandotherverythree-dimensionalstructureswithoverhangs.
Whenyouareready,beginprocessing.Thiswilltakeseveralhours,dependingonthenumberofimagesandsettingsyouselected.4)EXPORTIMAGEOnceprocessingiscomplete,youwillseethefinal,stitchedimageofthearea.Thiscanbeviewedasa2Dmap(pictured),a3Dmodel,NDVIimageryasanindicatorofplanthealth,orelevationmodel.
Hitthe“Export”buttononthetopofsidebartoexporttheimage.Enteranemailaddresstobenotifiedwhentheexportiscomplete.Youcanchoosetoexporttheorthomosaic(pictured),NDVIimagery,elevation,or3Dmodel.YoualsohavethechoiceofexportingitasaGeoTIFF,JPG,orPDF,dependingonwhatyouneedasafinalproduct.Formapprojection,youhaveachoicebetweenWebMercator,WGS84oralocalcoordinatesystem.UseWSG84formostdesktopapplicationsandagriculturalsoftwaresuitesincludingArcGIS,QGIS,AutoCAD.UseWebMercatorforallweb-basedsoftwaresuites,includingGoogleEarth.Whenchoosingtheresolution,keepinmindthecapabilitiesofyourcomputerforrunningGISsoftware.
5)USEINARCGISOncetheimageisexported,youwillreceiveanemailwithalinktodownload.Oncedownloaded,unzipthefolderinyourdesiredlocation.CreateanewprojectinArcMaporArcProandaddtheimage.Therastershouldappearinthecorrectlocation,andcannowbeusedasabasemaporforanyothermappingpurposes.
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