Our goal is to process your data as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure customer delight. We invest a significant amount of effort to process the data successfully the first time. However, capturing these thousands of images might be challenging. Therefore, we created this article, taking into account the best practices that will save you a lot of time and frustration during the data acquisition. First we will share the min requirements for the flight plan.
Flight plan
For the Survey Essential data product we require only visual (RGB) photos. A drone pilot will use an unmanned aerial system (a drone with a camera) to capture the data on site.
Visual (RGB) Data Requirements
GSD: up to 1.0 cm per pixel at ground level.
Front Overlap (direction of the flight lines): 75%.
If the terrain or the assets to be mapped are too complex, please increase the front overlap.Side Overlap (perpendicular to the direction of the flight lines): 70%.
If the terrain or the assets to be mapped are too complex, please increase the front overlap.Flight Path: At least 2 flight lines should be outside the boundaries of the operation in all directions.
Gimbal Orientation: standard Nadir (-90 deg).
If the terrain or the assets to be mapped are too complex, capture additional oblique photos to improve the quality of the end result.Image Format: JPEG.
Each image should contain the following metadata: GPS location, relative altitude and local timestamp.Image Quality: in focus, free from motion blur and with minimal glare.
At least 20 photos need to be uploaded to the SIDEREAL platform.
Ground Control Points
Ground Control Points (GCPs) are optional, but highly recommended. Even when using photos that have been geotagged using a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) or a Post Processing Kinematic (PPK) solution, we highly recommend placing at least one GCP for optimal position accuracy of the end result.
For more information on how to use Ground Control, please refer to the following article: How to Use Ground Control
Blocks
Blocks cannot be used for this data product, since one homogeneous output has to be produced.