Create a project
Before you can take measurements from drone imagery, you need to process it. First, you'll create a Drone2Map project and configure it. You'll perform the following tasks:
- Confirm the coordinate system of your imagery and output products
- Add images
- Add control points
Download the imagery
The images that the drone captured are stored online in a .zip file. You'll download the file, unzip its contents, and look at one of the images before you add them to a Drone2Map project.
- Download the Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map .zip file.
Note:
The file is over 700 MB in size and may take a few minutes to download.
- Locate the downloaded file. Extract it to a location on your computer you can easily find, such as your Documents folder.
- Open the Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map folder. Open the Drone Imagery folder.
This folder contains 89 images.
- Open the image named DJI_0674.
A preview appears. It shows the stockpile that you'll measure later in this tutorial.
- Close the preview.
- Close the Drone Imagery folder.
Create a project using a template
Next, you'll create a project in Drone2Map. Your project will be based on a template suited to your needs and include the imagery you downloaded.
- Start ArcGIS Drone2Map.
Note:
If you don't have Drone2Map, see options for software access.
- If prompted, sign in to your ArcGIS account.
Note:
If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.
The application opens.
First, you'll choose a processing template. These templates provide you with default settings to create 2D and 3D products. Your manager wants 2D imagery products and measurements, so you'll choose the 2D Products template. This template allows you to create True Orthos and Digital Surface Models, or DSMs, and can also be used to process multispectral and thermal imagery.
Note:
To learn more about processing templates, read Create a project.
- Under Processing Template, choose 2D Products.
Next, you'll give your project a name.
- Under Project Name, type Construction Site.
- Optionally, choose a location to save your project.
When a project is created, a folder directory will be created for your Drone2Map project file, imagery products, and other datasets.
Next, you'll add your drone imagery to the project. You can either select specific images or add folders that contain images. Because your images are in the Drone Imagery folder, you'll add this folder to the project.
- Click Add Folder.
The Browse for Image Folder window appears.
- Browse to and select the Drone Imagery folder. Click OK.
The 89 images you saw earlier are loaded into the project.
Each image contains metadata that has a Lat [Y] (degrees latitude), Long [X] (degrees longitude), and Alt [Z] (height) attribute. These geographic attributes were stored by the drone when it captured each image and allow the images to be located on a map.
Next, you'll view the coordinate system that will be used to position your drone images within the project.
- Click Image Coordinate System.
The Spatial Reference window appears.
Because most drones record image location using the WGS 1984 horizontal coordinate system and the EGM96 vertical coordinate system, these coordinate systems are the defaults for Drone2Map.
Many popular drone models that do not use real-time kinematic (RTK) or post-processing kinematic (PPK) GPS systems do not consistently record accurate altitude information during a flight. Sometimes, the vertical GPS data from a drone can be off by as much as 100 meters. If you want your product elevation values to be as accurate as possible, and to align properly with the ground surface elevation, it is recommended to use ground control points.
In this scenario, your drone used the WGS 1984 horizontal coordinate system and the EGM96 vertical coordinate system. You can leave the default values unchanged. If your drone had used different spatial references, it would be important to change these settings.
- Click OK.
You can also set a coordinate system for the imagery products that you create.
- Click Project Coordinate System.
The Spatial Reference window appears.
The horizontal coordinate system for your output products defaults to the UTM zone in which your project is located. For this project, it's UTM Zone 14 North. The default vertical coordinate system is EGM96.
You'll leave these default values unchanged. Later, when you add control points, the spatial reference you set for the control points will override the default UTM zone.
Note:
To learn more about coordinate systems, the difference between orthometric and ellipsoidal height, and vertical reference systems, see the documentation.
- Click OK.
Add control points
Next, you'll add control points to your project. Control points are typically collected using a high-accuracy GNSS receiver in the field. There are two types of control points. Ground control points (GCPs) are used to improve the horizontal and vertical accuracy of your 2D products during processing. Check points (CPs) are used to authenticate the overall accuracy of your final products. When control points are added to your project, they are automatically set to be GCPs. Later, you'll change five GCPs to CPs to check the accuracy of your final imagery products.
Note:
To learn more, read Evaluating project accuracy in Drone2Map.
Generating products without the use of control points can still produce datasets with good relative accuracy and you can perform mensuration tasks on these results. However, the products may not be positionally accurate, meaning the features to choose to measure may not align with their true position. In addition to these considerations of horizontal accuracy and position, most commercial drones and report altitude (Z) values with errors exceeding 100 meters (about 328 feet). These errors can cause your elevations products (DSM and DTM) to not align with correct ground elevation unless you add control points to correct the height values. For more information, read Having a bad case of vertigo.
- Click Import Control.
The Import Control window appears. You'll add your control points. They were provided as a table in the Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map folder.
- Browse to the Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map folder and select the Control Points .csv file.
- Click OK.
The Import Control window appears. It allows you to further configure your control points before adding them to your project.
For this project, the control points were collected using different horizontal and vertical coordinate systems than the default settings. You'll update these values.
- Under Control Coordinate System, click the Set Horizontal and Vertical Spatial Reference button.
The Spatial Reference window appears.
First, you'll update the horizontal coordinate system.
Note:
The coordinate system defaults to the Project Coordinate System that you viewed earlier. If you change the coordinate system in the Import Control window, it updates the Project Coordinate System as well.
- In the Spatial Reference window, ensure that Current XY is selected. In the search bar, type 6588 and press Enter.
The value 6588 is the identifier for a specific horizontal coordinate system used to collect the control points. That coordinate system is NAD 1983 (2011) StatePlane Texas S Central FIPS 4204 (US Feet).
Next, you'll update the vertical coordinate system.
- Under Current Z, click the box. In the search bar, type 6360 and press Enter.
The value 6360 is the identifier for the specific vertical coordinate system used to collect the control points. That vertical coordinate system is NAVD88 height (ftUS).
- Click OK.
A photograph was taken of each control point as a reference. You'll attach these photos to the control points next.
- Under Control Photos, uncheck In Label and click Browse.
- Browse to Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map and select the Control Photos folder.
- Click OK.
Each control point now has an image attachment.
Next, you'll populate the Control Field Information parameters. These parameters associate the fields in the table you downloaded with different values used by Drone2Map when processing your imagery. Aside from the coordinates of the control points, the table also contains the horizontal and vertical accuracy of the control points. The horizontal and vertical accuracy of the GNSS receiver is 0.02 feet. You'll provide this information to Drone2Map.
- Under Control Field Information, perform the following tasks:
- Confirm that Lat [Y] is set to Y.
- Confirm that Lon [X] is set to X.
- Confirm that Elevation [Z] is set to Z.
- Set Accuracy Horizontal to XY_Acc.
- Set Accuracy Vertical to Z_Acc.
- Click OK.
Your project inputs are complete. Next, you'll create your project.
- Click Create.
Your images and control points are added to a map and the project is automatically saved.
The blue points represent the locations of your images captured by the drone. The orange lines estimate the flight path of your drone during its flight. The green crosses are the locations of your control points.
In this module, you created a Drone2Map project and added images and control points. Additionally, you set the horizontal coordinate system for your project to be NAD 1983 (2011) StatePlane Texas S Central FIPS 4204 (US Feet) and the vertical coordinate system to be NAVD88 height (ftUS).
Configure control points
Now that you've created a project, you're almost ready to process your imagery. First, you'll define some control points as Ground Control Points (GCPs) and others as Check Points (CPs). Then, you'll link some of your drone images to those control points.
Label the control points
The control points have an attribute containing their names. You'll use this to label the control points on the map.
- In the Contents pane, right-click Control and choose Label.
Labels are added to each control point. However, they are difficult to see.
Next, you'll add a halo to make these labels easier to read.
- Right-click Control and choose Labeling Properties.
The Label Class pane appears.
- Click the Symbol tab.
- Expand Halo. For Halo symbol, choose White fill.
- Click Apply.
A white halo is applied to the labels.
Create check points
Now that the control points have been labeled, you'll designate three of them to be CPs. These CPs will be used to confirm the positional accuracy of your final imagery products. The other six control points will remain as GCPs, which is the default.
- On the ribbon, click the Home tab. In the Control group, click Control Manager.
The Control Manager pane appears.
This pane allows you to view your control points, change GCPs to CPs, and identify the control points in the drone imagery.
Next, you'll select three GCPs and convert them to CPs.
- In the Control Manager pane, select the following control points:
- CP1
- CP2
- CP3
Tip:
You can select multiple GCPs by pressing the Ctrl key.
- On the ribbon, on the Home tab, in the Control group, click the Control drop-down and choose Control Type.
The Update Control Type window appears. You'll change the selected control points to CPs.
- Under Choose a control type from the list, choose Check Point.
- Click OK.
In the Control Manager pane, the selected control points change to CPs.
Link images to control points
The GCPs and CPs need to be identified in your drone imagery. This process, called linking, allows the accurate locations of the GCPs and CPs to be applied to your images during processing.
- In the Control Manager pane, click the Show image links editor button.
The Image Links window appears.
This window allows you to link the drone images to the control points. First, you'll choose a specific control point. Then, you'll cycle through the images listed. Finally, when you find that control point in an image, you'll click it. This process associates a particular location in an image with the precise location of the control point. A minimum of two images need to be linked to each control point; linking three to eight images is recommended.
The control points you'll link in this tutorial are utility hole covers. Some organizations may use targets or other easily identifiable features on the landscape at ground level, such as painted road markings.
- In the Image Links window, for Control Point, choose GCP1.
The images in the Image Links window update. By default, Drone2Map displays images that are closest to the selected control point first. They are listed in the window. The image closest to this control point is DJI_0784.jpg.
The control point you selected in the Image Links window is also selected on the map.
- Move the Image Links window so that you can see the selected control point.
Tip:
Use the labels on the map to help you find control point GCP1. The selected control point is in the middle of a cul-de-sac at the southern end of the project area. When a control point is selected, it is highlighted in light blue.
- In the Image Links window, zoom in on the image and find the utility hole cover.
You can zoom using your mouse's scroll wheel or use the Zoom In button.
It is critical that you zoom in when linking your control points. Precision when linking your images impacts the quality of your output products.
- Click the center of the utility hole cover.
A red mark appears on the image. The control point GCP1 now has one image linked to it, as indicated by the checkmark next to the image name, DJI_00784.jpg.
Note:
Depending on your Drone2Map settings, you may see a mark of a different color, such as yellow. The color of the mark will not change your results. You can adjust the color of marks by clicking Project and clicking Settings. In the Control tab, change the Image Links Color parameter to change the color of image links.
- Click the second closest image, DJI_0797.jpg.
- Zoom in to the image and find the utility hole cover. Click the center of the cover.
This control point now has the minimum number of linked images necessary for processing. The number of linked images is displayed under Links.
Note:
Optionally, continue this process to add additional links for this control point. Linking between three to eight images to each control point is recommended for improved accuracy in your results.
It is possible that a control point of interest does not appear in a selected image. If this is the case, skip to the next image and continue looking for the control point.
- For Control Point, choose GCP2. Adjust the Image Links window to view the control point on the map.
The utility hole cover is in the middle of a three-way intersection.
- Link the control point in two images.
Normally, these steps would be repeated for each control point in your project. For the purposes of this tutorial, you'll clear the control points and import a .zip file containing all of the control points with some image links.
- Click OK.
- In the Control Manager pane, press Ctrl and select all of the control points:
- Click the Remove Selected button.
The Remove Control window appears.
- In the Remove Control window, click Yes.
The control points are removed.
- In the Control Manager pane, click the Import control button.
- In the Import Control window, browse to the Create_2D_products_with_ArcGIS_Drone2Map folder. Select Control Points Export .zip and click OK.
The Import Control window appears. The images to which each control point is linked are listed.
- In the Import Control window, click OK.
The control points that you removed earlier have been added again, but this time they are already linked to images for this project. The checkmark next to their name indicates that they are linked to at least two images.
- On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save Project button.
In this module, you linked your control points to images and defined some as GCPs and others as CPs. These control points will be used when you process your imagery.
Process imagery and review results
Now that the images are linked to the control points, you're almost ready to process your imagery. Before you begin the processing, you'll explore processing options. Processing options allow you to determine the products that Drone2Map will create and their overall quality.
Configure processing options
The Processing Options window allows you to review your project inputs and outputs before processing your imagery.
- On the ribbon, click the Home tab. In the Processing group, click Options.
The Options window appears.
This window allows you to configure key components of the photogrammetric process to meet your specific analysis requirements. The default options were set when you chose the 2D Products template. In some cases, it might be advantageous to reduce the default settings and quality of your output to quickly process drone imagery. Other times, increasing the settings for higher quality outputs may be beneficial for your drone projects.
Note:
For a more in-depth explanation of the options available, read Processing options.
Next, you'll explore some of the options.
- In the Options window, confirm that the General tab is selected.
The General tab is where you can adjust the quality and resolution of output products. You can also define how much of your computer's processing power is used when generating those products. For example, if you wanted to process your imagery faster, you could change the Point Cloud Density parameter to Medium. This change would process your imagery faster, but also reduce the quality of your outputs.
- Click the Adjust Images tab.
The Adjust Images tab allows you to define settings used during the block adjustment process, tie point matching, and point cloud generation. These are the various sub-processes that occur when Drone2Map creates your imagery products.
- Click the 2D Products tab.
The 2D Products tab allows you to adjust the processing options and desired outputs for your True Orthos, digital surface models, and digital terrain models. The True Ortho and DSM products are selected by default because you chose the 2D Products template.
- Under Digital Surface Model, check the box next to Create Shaded Relief, Create Contours, and Export Shapefile.
You can configure the contours that Drone2Map creates. By default, they are set to a 10 foot interval. You'll change them to be a 2 foot interval. The interval's unit of measurement is feet because the coordinate system of the project is feet. If a coordinate system that uses meters was selected, then the unit of measurement would be meters.
- Under Create Contours, for Interval, type 2.
The other tabs in the Options window allow you to output 3D products, review your project's coordinate system, and view other details regarding your project.
- Click OK.
Before you begin processing your imagery, you'll review your outputs in the Manage pane.
- On the ribbon, on the Home tab, in the Processing group, click Manage.
The Manage pane appears. This pane provides you with an overview of the products that will be created when you process your imagery.
- Expand the 3D products and Report groups.
Under 2D Products, True Ortho and Digital Surface Model are queued for processing. Under 3D Products, nothing is selected. This is because you chose the 2D Products template. Under Report, a Processing Report will be created. This output provides valuable information about the quality and accuracy of your imagery inputs and outputs.
Next, you'll process your imagery.
- On the ribbon, click the Home tab. In the Processing group, click Start.
Note:
If the Processing Warning window appears. Click No. This warning indicates that a transformation cannot be found between the coordinate system of the drone imagery and your project's coordinate system. In order to obtain the correct transformation, you need to install ArcGIS Coordinate Systems Data. Save your project, close Drone2Map, install ArcGIS Coordinate Systems Data, reopen the Drone2Map project, and begin processing.
The processing progress is visible in the Manage pane.
Note:
The amount of time it takes to process your imagery depends on your computer's hardware, the number of images you're processing, the resolution of your images, and the products that Drone2Map is generating. For this tutorial, processing may take from 30 minutes to over an hour.
When the processing finishes, several layers are added to the Contents pane and the map.
Review the processing report
Now that the processing is complete, you'll review the processing report. This document gives you insights into the quality and accuracy of your project as well as a summary of the options you defined for processing. This is an important step to perform because the visual appearance of generated products may not be reflective of the dataset quality. Otherwise, your measurements of the construction site may be incorrect for your manager.
Note:
For more information about the processing report, read Understanding the Drone2Map Processing Report.
- On the ribbon, click the Home tab. In the Processing group, click Report.
The Processing Report window appears.
Note:
The values in your processing report may vary from the values show in the example images.
The Project Summary section provides an overview of the study area that was processed. The number of images calibrated is especially important. If too many images are not calibrated, it can impact the quality of your output products. The Ground Resolution value is the resolution of your True Ortho.
- Scroll down to the Adjust Images section.
The Summary subsection provides information about key indicators of model performance such as the root mean squared error (RMSE) of the control point position in your results. Higher RMSE values indicate that your results may not be positionally accurate, the threshold for which can be determined by end-user needs. A framework for setting your positional accuracy can be found in the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data. Additionally, the RMSE of the reprojection error can indicate the quality of the image calibration step during the adjustment process. The value of the reprojection error should be less than one. The rest of the project summary provides other important information regarding processing and is described in more detail in the article Understanding the Drone2Map Processing Report.
- Scroll down to the Adjusted Image Positions subsection.
This graphic visualizes the shifts applied to your images during processing. The blue points indicate where your images were initially positioned and the green points show where they were repositioned. If there are significant shifts between the points, it may indicate poor GPS accuracy when the imagery was collected, so the user should be aware that their drone might be having GPS problems. However, if the other metrics in the report are good, the processing applied in Drone2Map has successfully corrected the GPS errors, so your output results should still be good.
- Scroll down to the Image Overlap subsection.
Overlap between images captured by drones is critical. This graphic helps determine areas of high or low overlap and is used to troubleshoot areas with poor reconstruction or areas of dropped images caused by insufficient image overlap.
- Scroll down to the Check Points table within the Geolocation Details section.
The dX, dY, and dZ fields of the check point table display the residual error calculated (deviation) when attempting to fit the control points to their specified locations. When the RMSE values are low, it indicates the block adjustment was successful. If any of the points has a residual error that is much higher, links to that point should be reviewed for possible errors during manual linking.
- Close the Processing Report window.
Review the imagery products
Now that you've reviewed and confirmed the accuracy of your outputs, you'll explore the imagery products on the map to better understand the project area.
- In the Contents pane, collapse and turn off the Project Data group.
Now, the imagery products are easier to see on the map. The lines on the layer represent elevation contours in feet.
Next, you'll explore the elevations in your project area.
- On the ribbon, on the Home tab, in the Navigate group, click Explore.
- On the map, click a contour.
The contour's pop-up appears. The Contour attribute contains the elevation value.
- Close the pop-up.
Next, you'll look at the True Ortho layer without the elevation contours.
- In the Contents pane, turn off the DSM Contours layer.
Now, only the True Ortho layer is visible. It clearly shows the features of the construction site.
Next, you'll look at the DSM Shaded Relief layer.
- Turn off the True Ortho layer.
The DSM Shaded Relief layer becomes visible. Using shading, this layer provides a sense of variation in elevation. The areas in the center of the project area have the highest elevations. Three large stockpiles are visible. Later, you'll measure the volume of the largest pile.
The final output is the Digital Surface Model layer.
- Turn off the DSM Shaded Relief layer.
The Digital Surface Model layer becomes visible. This layer contains the elevation information across the study area.
- On the map, click anywhere on the Digital Surface Model layer.
A pop-up appears, showing the elevation at that location.
- Close the pop-up.
- Save the project.
Now that you've explored the imagery products and confirmed their accuracy, you're ready to measure the largest stockpile before sharing your results to the web.
Measure and share results
Before sharing your imagery products online, you'll calculate the volume of one of the stockpiles. Your manager would like to know if there are enough resources on site for this housing development. To perform these measurements, you'll use analysis tools.
Measure stockpile volume
The stockpiles are most visible in the True Ortho layer. You'll use that layer to perform the measurements.
- In the Contents pane, turn on the True Ortho layer.
To ensure an accurate measurement, you'll zoom to the stockpile of interest. It's located at the southern end of the project area.
- Zoom to the largest stockpile.
- On the ribbon, click the Analysis tab. In the Measure group, click Volume.
Next, you'll draw a polygon to define the stockpile.
Note:
Although you won't be using them in this tutorial, Drone2Map does have additional tools for point, distance, and area measurements.
- On the map, click the edge of the stockpile to start drawing a polygon.
When digitizing, click close to the base of the stockpile. Small artifacts in the imagery products can lead to errors in your results if your polygon is not drawn precisely.
- Continue clicking to draw a polygon around the base of the stockpile.
Note:
If you need to move a vertex, point to it. After a second, your cursor changes and you can drag to reposition it. If you need to start over, press the Esc key.
- Double-click to finish drawing the outline of the stockpile.
The Mensuration Results pane appears.
This pane provides information about the stockpile you delineated. The estimated volume is about 3,500 cubic feet. You can inform your manager to determine if more fill is needed or if additional dump trucks will be required to remove anything that might remain after construction.
Note:
Depending on the accuracy of your imagery products and the polygon you drew, your results may vary.
If you need to change the unit of measurement for volume or other calculations, in the Mensuration Results pane, click the Mensuration Options button. The units can be updated under Units.
- Optionally, use the other measuring tools found in the Analysis tab.
You've calculated the volume of the largest stockpile on the construction site. Next, you'll share this information as a report.
- In the Mensuration Results pane, click the Generate Report button.
The Generate Report window appears. Next, you'll choose where to save your report.
- In the Generate Report window, browse to your Construction Site project folder. For Name, type Construction Site Measurement.
- Click Save.
- In your computer's file browser, browse to and open the Construction Site Measurement file.
The values calculated in Drone2Map have been added to this report for sharing.
- Close the Construction Site Measurement file and the file browser.
- In Drone2Map, save your project.
Share imagery products
Now that you have generated imagery products, reviewed the products and product quality, and measured a key feature in your site, you'll share these products to other coworkers, stakeholders, or clients using a web map. When sharing content to the web, you can either use an ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise account.
- On the ribbon, click the Share tab. In the Share As group, choose Web Map.
The Share Web Map pane appears. This pane allows you to choose the layers that you want to publish.
- In the Share Web Map pane, under Layers, check the boxes next to all seven of the layers.
Next, you'll name these layers.
- For Title type Construction Site.
You'll also share this map with others. You can choose to share this content with groups, your organization, or publicly. For this tutorial, you'll share it with your organization for your manager to see.
- Under Groups, check the box next to Organization.
Finally, you'll share your content to the web.
Note:
You can further configure the sharing of your layers using the Properties tab.
- Click the Share button.
The Manage pane appears. Your data is packaged and published to the web as a series of items. This process may take several minutes.
Once the sharing is complete, you'll review the web map.
- Next to Shared Item, click Construction Site Web Map.
A web browser opens. You'll sign in using the same account that licensed Drone2Map.
- Sign in using your licensed ArcGIS account.
The details page for your web map appears.
- Click Open in Map Viewer.
The map opens and your contents from Drone2Map are added as layers.
Now that your content is on the web, you can package it in web apps, such as Instant Apps or Dashboards.
In this tutorial, you took raw drone imagery and processed it using Drone2Map. You also ensured that your final outputs would be accurate by adding GCPs and CPs and linking them to the drone images. After processing your imagery, you confirmed its quality prior to measuring the volume of a stockpile and sharing it with your organization.
You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.