UAS Workflow From Planning to Visualization

 Terrain follow  is a feature in the Site Scan flight app that allows the drone to maintain a consistent altitude above the ground, even when the terrain is uneven. This feature is particularly useful when conducting surveys or inspections in areas with varying topography. By using terrain follow, the drone can adjust its altitude to follow the contours of the terrain, ensuring that the ground sample distance (GSD) remains consistent throughout the flight. The GSD refers to the distance between pixel centers on the ground, and it determines the level of detail captured by the drone's camera. By maintaining a consistent altitude, the GSD remains constant, resulting in accurate and high-resolution imagery.

 In addition to terrain follow, the  hatch angle  and gimbal angle also play a role in the Site Scan flight app. Modifying the hatch angle allows the pilot to choose an optimal path for the vehicle to take during the mission. It is best to choose a hatch angle that decreases the number of turns in the survey. Note that the hatch angle is optimized by the application, but it is possible to modify as needed. The  gimbal angle , on the other hand, refers to the tilt of the camera. By adjusting the gimbal angle, you can capture images at different angles, allowing for better visualization of vertical structures or capturing specific features of interest.

Importing layers from ArcGIS Online enhances a Site Scan flight mission by overlaying important data layers on the map, such as land use or infrastructure, providing valuable spatial context. This allows for more informed decision-making during flight planning and ensures the capture of necessary data. Additionally, the integration with ArcGIS Online enables the use of spatial analysis capabilities to identify areas of interest, define flight boundaries, and create custom flight paths. This integration optimizes flight missions and leverages the power of GIS data and analysis for more accurate and meaningful results.

On the Mission Settings screen, a box is automatically is created displaying the area of the survey.

• Drag each of the four corners to move the vertices around, and place the survey box over the area of interest.

• Tap and hold the corners to move the vertices around.

• Create new vertices by grabbing the small circles in between each vertex.

• At the bottom of the screen is an Undo button.

Side lap, overlap, and speed are important factors that can significantly impact Site Scan missions. Side lap refers to the amount of overlap between adjacent flight lines, while overlap refers to the amount of overlap between individual images within a flight line. Both side lap and overlap are crucial for generating accurate 3D models or orthomosaic maps. By increasing the side lap and overlap, you can ensure sufficient coverage and redundancy in the captured imagery, resulting in better data quality and more reliable outputs.

 Too high of a rate of speed during a Site Scan mission can cause motion blur in the captured imagery. Motion blur occurs when the camera's exposure time is too long relative to the movement of the drone. As the drone moves quickly through the air, the camera's exposure time may not be fast enough to freeze the motion, resulting in blurred images.

 When motion blur occurs, it can significantly impact the quality and accuracy of the captured data. Blurred images can make it difficult to identify and analyze specific features or details, leading to less reliable outputs such as 3D models or orthomosaic maps. To avoid motion blur, it is important to adjust the flight speed to a level that allows for a shorter exposure time, ensuring that the camera can capture sharp and clear images. By optimizing the flight speed, you can minimize motion blur and achieve higher-quality results in your Site Scan missions.

To obtain LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) approval for flights within the Site Scan flight app, you can utilize the integration with  Airspace Link . Airspace Link is a platform that provides access to airspace information and facilitates the authorization process for drone flights. By connecting your Site Scan account with Airspace Link, you can easily request and obtain LAANC approvals directly within the app.

 To initiate the LAANC approval process, you would first need to select the desired flight area within the Site Scan flight app. Then, using the Airspace Link integration, you can submit a request for authorization by providing details such as the date, time, and altitude of the planned flight. Airspace Link will then communicate with the relevant airspace authorities to obtain the necessary approvals.

 By leveraging the Airspace Link integration within the Site Scan flight app, you can streamline the process of obtaining LAANC approvals, ensuring compliance with airspace regulations and enabling safe and efficient drone operations.

By flying the mission in a crosshatch pattern with a gimbal angle of 35 degrees, you can generate both 2D orthomosaic maps and 3D models. The crosshatch pattern ensures comprehensive coverage of the area of interest, while the gimbal angle allows for capturing images at different angles, resulting in more detailed and visually appealing outputs.

In Drone2Map, you can create various 2D imagery products to suit your specific needs. One of the main products is the orthomosaic map, which is a georeferenced and orthorectified image that provides a detailed and accurate representation of the Earth's surface. Additionally, you can generate digital surface models (DSMs) that depict the elevation of the terrain, digital terrain models (DTMs) that represent the bare Earth surface by removing above-ground features, contour lines that highlight topographic features, and index maps that showcase specific attributes or characteristics of the area. These 2D imagery products, including orthomosaic maps, DSMs, and DTMs, offer valuable insights and information for a wide range of applications, including land surveying, infrastructure planning, and environmental analysis.

The  TrueOrtho  settings in Drone2Map allow you to generate highly accurate orthomosaic maps with minimal distortion. TrueOrtho combines the benefits of orthorectification and image blending techniques to create seamless and visually appealing orthomosaics. In the settings, you can specify the desired resolution, file format, and coordinate system for the TrueOrtho output. You can also choose to include additional products such as digital surface models or contour lines. By adjusting these settings, you can customize the TrueOrtho output to meet your specific project requirements and achieve precise and georeferenced maps for analysis and visualization purposes.

When Drone2Map starts to process a project, it goes through several key steps. First, it analyzes the metadata of the imported images to gather information about the drone, camera settings, and GPS coordinates. Then, it performs a calibration process to correct any lens distortions and ensure accurate measurements. Next, it uses the collected GPS data to align the images and create a point cloud, which represents the 3D structure of the scene. From the point cloud, Drone2Map generates a digital surface model (DSM) and a digital terrain model (DTM) to depict the elevation of the terrain. Finally, it combines the aligned images to create an orthomosaic map, which is a georeferenced and orthorectified image that provides a detailed and accurate representation of the Earth's surface. Throughout these processes, Drone2Map utilizes advanced algorithms and techniques to produce high-quality and reliable outputs for further analysis and visualization.

The image on the left showcases an orthomosaic map of the Farmer's Market in Olympia, WA. By swiping to the right, you can explore a digital surface model (DSM) of the area. In the DSM, the dark red and orange hues indicate the highest elevations, while the yellow and green hues represent the ground level, providing a comprehensive visualization of the terrain.

To directly import your Drone2Map project into ArcGIS Pro, simply navigate to the "Post Processing" tab on the ribbon and click on the "Open in ArcGIS Pro" button. This streamlined process allows for seamless integration of your drone data into ArcGIS Pro, enabling you to leverage the advanced capabilities of the software for further analysis, visualization, and integration with other geospatial data.

ArcGIS Reality uses photogrammetry techniques to create a 3D mesh from a point cloud. First, the drone captures a series of overlapping images of the object or area from different angles. These images are then processed to generate a point cloud, which represents the 3D coordinates of the surface points. The point cloud is then used to reconstruct the surface by connecting the points to form triangles. This process is known as surface reconstruction or triangulation. Once the surface is reconstructed, the 3D mesh is refined, texture mapping is applied for visual enhancement, and the mesh is optimized for file size and performance. Site Scan provides tools and features to assist with each step of the process, making it easier to create a high-quality 3D mesh from a point cloud.

Like setting your options to create a 2D orthographic map you will need to set your 3D parameters using the "Options" tab under within the "Processing" group.

ArcGIS Reality offers many 3D layer file types capable of embedding into GIS, CAD, and web-based workflows.

A SLPK (Scene Layer Package) is a file format used to store and share 3D geospatial data. It contains all the necessary information, such as 3D models, textures, and metadata, to create a realistic and interactive 3D scene. A DAE (Collada) file is a common format for exchanging 3D models and can be used to represent objects, buildings, or terrain in ArcGIS Reality software. An obj (Wavefront OBJ) file is another widely used format for 3D models and can store geometry, texture coordinates, and material information. An OSGB (OpenSceneGraph Binary) file is a binary format used for efficient storage and rendering of 3D scenes in ArcGIS Reality software. Finally, A 3D tile layer references a tileset that defines an integrated mesh, or 3D object type data in a hierarchical data structure. 3D tiles are based on a specific OGC standard, such as Indexed Scene Layer (I3s) specification, allowing you to visualize large amounts of 3D content..

To host a scene layer in ArcGIS Online, you need to create a scene layer package (SLPK) in ArcGIS Reality. Once the scene layer is created, you can upload the mesh and point cloud to ArcGIS Online. From there, you can seamlessly integrate them into web maps and web applications, allowing for interactive and immersive visualization of the 3D data. This process enables you to easily share and collaborate on 3D projects, enhancing the accessibility and usability of your geospatial data.

Once your 3D Scene Mesh Layer is in ArcGIS Online, you gain the ability to visualize and analyze 3D data within a web scene. This includes performing advanced terrain analysis, precise measurement of distances and areas, creating captivating fly-through animations, and collaborating with others to share insights. Furthermore, you can enhance your analysis and sharing capabilities by creating web apps or leveraging Experience Builder, empowering decision-makers and stakeholders with valuable information.