How often in an organisation does this occur? Recently, in the work I have been doing with customers this is perhaps one of the biggest requests. How can an organisation easily scan their geospatial datasets to provide an updated list of available datasets.
Enter the Catalog Dataset. The Catalog Dataset was released with ArcGIS Pro 3.1 and soon to be added to the upcoming Drone2Map 2023.2
Continue readingEsri business partner 3DR has released a free app for iOS that interfaces with ArcGIS Online, allowing Esri users to view GIS content from ArcGIS Online to assist with the drone flight planning.
The Site Scan – Esri Edition app provides mission planning and flight control for a number of leading drones to optimize drone collections for use in Drone2Map or Ortho Mapping in ArcGIS Pro. This release is compatible with the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, DJI M200, DJI M210, DJI Inspire 2, DJI Mavic Pro, or Yuneec H520-G, as well as the 3DR Solo.
The Site Scan – Esri Edition app allows users to take advantage of substantial amounts of publicly accessible data, as well as custom data layers from the user’s ArcGIS Online account, as base and reference data for mission planning.
Site Scan – Esri Edition is free to everyone with an ArcGIS Online account. The app is available on iTunes at http://esriurl.com/SSEE, and will be available soon in the Esri Marketplace.
Try it out!
In my previous article I highlighted the importance of ground control for aerial drone surveying. You really can’t provide a GIS ready product unless it is coordinated by ground control. Or can you? Now I am not going to start advocating not using ground control but what if you can’t acquire ground control for your given area of interest. Are there other options?? Well yes there are. They are not as accurate as supplying surveyed ground control but they will provide a product which can be used in your system if you just need to view a mosaiced image.
In my position I talk to a lot of different clients about their requirements for drones. I hear of clients wanting high resolution aerial photography, elevation models, performing volumetric analysis, outputting point clouds for updating engineering designs, change monitoring and inspection scenarios. Every client has different thoughts and ideas on how they best make use of their investment. In all of these great ideas I often find that there is a great void between the understanding of what a client is looking for and their understanding of what is achievable.
Whether you purchase a helicopter, smaller quad copter or a fixed wing drone, all are delivered a flight control unit and flight management software. You’ll often though have to supply your own Smart Phone or tablet to run the software. However, it is not until you decide on exactly what you want to use the drone for, does the realisation of what is really required to achieved those results become apparent. If you are going to use it for talking single aerial pictures or video then the manual flight controller might be sufficient, however if you want to be able to use the drone for comprehensive orthomosaics or elevation modeling then there are key considerations that are required.
When the term drone is used it often conjures up images of installations being destroyed by laser guided bombs or unmanned military surveillance aircraft being used to spy on strategic targets. However, the drone of today is more than this. They have come down in price and size. To the extent that we can now purchase a drone or as CASA prefers a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), down at your local electrical store for a reasonable price.
In September CASA is introducing new regulations around the use of RPA
S that make it easier for everyone to fly a RPAS. http://bit.ly/1sNxnt4 These consumer type RPAS will become more prevalent not only in the hobbyist field but also in the commercial field.
Esri is strategically placed to take advantage of this growing market. Recently released Drone2Map for ArcGIS (http://www.esri.com/products/drone2map) takes geolocated images from RPAS and creates professional imagery products for visualisation and analysis in ArcGIS.
Esri Australia Technical Blog 