How do I upload drone data?

Steps to upload drone images to GeoNadir

Karen Joyce avatar
Written by Karen Joyce
Updated over a week ago

It's easy! Pretty much any time you see a map, you can drag and drop your drone data and it will set off the upload process. Here's what we recommend as our ideal workflow:

  1. Open or start a new project.

  2. Click the button to upload or drag and drop directly onto the map. You can drag a bunch of photos, folders, or even a folder of folders!

  3. If you've uploaded a folder, decide if you'd like to merge or separate the data

    1. If you have flown your mission in multiple flights, pausing only to change a battery between flights, and this has resulted in multiple folders, you should choose to merge into a single dataset. This will result in a single orthomosaic / DSM / DTM.

    2. If your multiple folders represent mapping missions separated by space (i.e. different locations or altitudes) and / or time (i.e. different times or days), you should choose to keep them separate. This will result in several orthomosaics / DSMs / DTMs - one per folder / dataset.

  4. If you like, you can add extra information about the dataset (e.g. description, tags...). This is all optional.

  5. Click upload!

And there you have it!

Your dataset(s) will be available on our platform once the upload is complete. The GeoNadir backend will generate the orthomosaic for you!

Naming datasets

If you upload a series of photos (not inside a folder), we'll automagically name the dataset for you based on it's location and date/time of capture.

If you upload a folder, the dataset will keep the name of that folder.

You can always edit the name of a dataset as you like.

Your datasets will be auto-named according to their folder name. You can always edit that.
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Top tips

  • Only upload RGB, multispectral, or thermal data.

  • All your data must be 'geotagged' i.e. have the latitude and longitude stamped into each image. This is done by drones that have onboard GPS.

  • Data should be 'nadir' - with the camera facing directly down. Horizon or overly oblique images won't be processed.

  • Data must contain sufficient overlap and sidelap - we recommend 80%.

  • Only upload data in one browser tab at a time. Attempting parallel uploads in multiple tabs is likely to overwhelm your internet, resulting in timeouts and failed uploads.

  • Only merge datasets if they were captured sequentially in space and time (i.e. multiple battery missions). Any gaps in space or time will result in failed processing.

  • For best results, have a minimum of ten images and a maximum of 2,000 in a single dataset, but please take into consideration your internet speed, computer battery etc. If the dataset is huge, it will take some time to upload. You can leave the webpage open in a tab or leave the computer on overnight.

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