Get started with ArcGIS Flight

In this tutorial, you have been assigned to capture high-quality drone imagery of the University of Redlands campus for a future housing construction assessment. The imagery you collect will be used to generate high-fidelity 3D products of the campus and infrastructure, enabling evaluation for new planned developments.

To generate 3D products, you'll capture oblique (at an angle) imagery, using the ArcGIS Flight drone mission planning application.

Note:

This tutorial shows how to set up the oblique crosshatch survey. For best-quality reconstruction, it is recommended that you also fly a nadir area survey capture and combine the oblique and nadir datasets in processing.

ArcGIS Flight enables drone operators to plan and conduct autonomous flights with precision, ensuring consistent and high-resolution image capture. The imagery collected can then be processed using Site Scan for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Drone2Map, or ArcGIS Reality for ArcGIS Pro to produce accurate 2D and 3D geospatial products that support more informed decision-making.

This tutorial was last tested on November 20, 2025.

View final result

Requirements

• ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, or Site Scan for ArcGIS license
• ArcGIS Mobile Worker user type or above
• Site Scan Operator license
• ArcGIS Flight or ArcGIS Flight (US Government edition)
• iPad with iPadOS 16.0 or later

Get started with ArcGIS Flight

Create a project

First, you'll create a project in ArcGIS Flight and enter the name and details of the project. A project allows you to create flight plans and conduct missions, and if you are a Site Scan user, you can assign your project to a Site Scan organization.

1. Open ArcGIS Flight on your iPad.
2. Sign in with your ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, or Site Scan operator account.

   

3. If necessary, click through or skip the ArcGIS Flight introduction.
4. If prompted to allow ArcGIS Flight to use your location, click Allow while using App.
5. Tap Create New Project.

   

6. In the Project Name box, type ArcGIS Flight Tutorial and tap Save Project.

   

   You've created an ArcGIS Flight project. A project is a container for data and information about a specific area, and can contain multiple missions, flight plans, and outputs. Next, you'll choose a drone and start a flight plan.

Start a flight plan

For this project, you need to collect imagery to support the creation of a 3D model of the campus. You'll configure a mission that will use the Crosshatch Survey flight mode.

1. In the upper-right part of the ArcGIS Flight app, click the drone selection drop-down menu, and tap Freefly Astro Wired.

   

   Note:

   When planning your own missions, you should choose the drone that you'll use. Different drones have different capabilities, so if you choose another drone for this tutorial, you'll see parameters and options that differ from those shown in the example image.

2. Tap Crosshatch Survey.

   

   The Crosshatch Survey option uses oblique camera angles to capture image content for the top and sides of vertical features, which are used to generate point clouds and high-fidelity 3D meshes.

   Note:

   For more information, see the tutorial requirements.

3. In the Enter Mission Data pane, for Mission Name, type CH Survey Campus.

   

4. For Mission Location, type University of Redlands CA inst and tap the University of Redlands Redlands Institute, 1200 E Colton Ave, Redlands, CA, 92374, USA search result.

   

   The map zooms to a section of the University of Redlands campus.

   

5. Tap Next.

   

   A default mission extent polygon is added to the map.

   

Set the mission extent

Next, you'll zoom to the planned mission extent and edit the extent polygon.

1. Touch two fingers to the map and pinch them together to zoom out until the extent matches the example image:

   

   The mission you are planning will cover a part of the campus in this area. You'll edit the shape of the mission polygon to better fit the planned mission. You'll set the polygon perimeter to be just inside the larger roads, to avoid flying over traffic.

2. In the Mission Settings pane, scroll to the bottom and tap Center Mission Area to Map.

   

   The mission area polygon moves to the middle of the map. Next, you'll move the vertices of the polygon to match the planned mission area. The polygon has four corner vertices and four midpoint vertices. The corner vertices are drawn with larger point symbols and the midpoints are drawn with smaller symbols.

3. Tap the large white point at the northwest corner of the mission polygon and drag it northwest to the corner of North University Street and East Colton Avenue.

   

   When you drag one of the larger corner vertices, the segments between that vertex and other large vertices stretch.

4. Tap the smaller white point at the midpoint of the southwest side of the mission area polygon and drag it to the bend in North University Street where the street turns more directly north-south.

   

   When you move one of the midpoint vertices, it becomes a larger, corner vertex. Two small midpoint vertices are added between it and the nearby corners.

   

5. Tap the midpoint vertex between the new one and the original southwest corner vertex. Drag it to the intersection of North University Street and Sylvan Boulevard.

   

   The vertex is moved.

   

6. Continue adding and moving vertices until your mission area polygon matches the one in the example image:

   

   If you add a vertex that you want to remove, double-tap the vertex and tap Remove.

   

   You can also undo adding or moving a vertex by tapping the Undo button.

   

   Note:

   You can also use the Define Mission Area from Polygon option to load a polygon layer from ArcGIS Online to create a flight plan. Using a polygon that you previously stored in ArcGIS Online allows a specific area of interest to be reused for multiple missions.

   If you have a layer saved in Site Scan overlays or in your ArcGIS Online organization or ArcGIS Enterprise portal, you can add it to the project for reference and planning, or to define the mission area. Using additional layers can help you plan and verify that your mission is correctly defined for your area or feature of interest.

Define mission settings

The ArcGIS Flight app suggests a set of mission settings, which you can change in the Mission Settings pane. Along the bottom of the app, the mission statistics for the current set of parameters are displayed. Changing the mission settings will result in updated mission statistics. With the current settings, the estimated flight time is 25 minutes, the resolution is 0.4 in/pixel, the survey area is 18.90 acres, 417 images will be collected, and one battery will be required for the drone. Depending on the polygon you created and the drone you chose, your statistics may be different.

First, you'll enable terrain following and set the Flight Height.

1. In the Mission Settings pane, for the Terrain Follow option, tap the toggle button to turn on Terrain Follow mode.

   

   The map view switches to a 3D view. This section of the campus is relatively flat, but switching on Terrain Follow enables the drone to use Esri world elevation data to maintain a constant altitude over the ground as the drone moves across the mission area, which maintains a constant ground sampling distance (GSD) for the imagery.

2. Tap the Flight Height box and type 300. Tap Done.

   

   The project's default units are feet, so the units are added to the box.

   With the new height, the estimated flight time decreases to 14 minutes, the resolution is 0.6 in/pixel, the survey area is 18.90 acres, 182 images will be collected, and one battery will be required for the drone. Increasing the height to 300 feet reduces the mission duration in the field while maintaining a sampling distance suitable for high-resolution output.

3. Confirm that the Gimbal Angle is 35 degrees.

   

   The 35-degree gimbal angle is the default value for a crosshatch survey. This angle allows the camera to capture images of the tops and sides of structures, which is useful for 3D reconstruction.

   Note:

   For crosshatch surveys, a setting between 35 degrees and 40 degrees typically delivers the best results. The horizon must not be visible in the photos, or processing results may be poor. Avoid setting an angle greater than 45 degrees.

4. Scroll down the Mission Settings pane to Geofence. Tap the toggle button to enable Geofence.

   

   Using a geofence will restrict your drone's flight area to within the boundary of the flight polygon you planned, which will ensure that you are not flying over sensitive areas such as pedestrians or major roads with moving vehicles. The boundary of your polygon turns red to indicate that you've enabled a geofence.

   

Review advanced mission parameters

ArcGIS Flight allows you to specify a variety of parameters to control your collection mission. Next, you'll review some advanced parameters.

1. Scroll down the Mission Settings pane. Tap Advanced.

   

   The first two parameters in the Advanced pane are Overlap and Sidelap.

   

2. Ensure that the Overlap parameter is set to 75%.

   This is the default value for a crosshatch survey. It ensures that the images to be collected will overlap along the flight lines, which enables 3D reconstruction. It is best not to reduce the overlap below 70 percent. In some cases, you may find it helpful to increase the overlap, to collect more overlapping images, which will result in a higher-quality 3D output. Increasing the overlap will increase flight times and number of images collected.

3. Ensure that the Sidelap parameter is set to 70%.

   This is the default value for a crosshatch survey. It ensures that the images to be collected will overlap between the flight lines, which enables 3D reconstruction. It is best not to reduce the sidelap below 65 percent. In some cases, you may find it helpful to increase the sidelap, to collect more overlapping images, which will result in a higher-quality 3D output. Increasing the sidelap will increase flight times and number of images collected.

   Note:

   The quality of drone imagery and derived products (orthomosaics, point clouds, meshes) are most influenced by the flight height, overlap, and sidelap of the mission.

4. Tap the back button to return to the Mission Settings pane.
5. Confirm there are no FAA advisories that will affect your flight plans.

   

   If your planned flight is affected by an FAA advisory, you'll see the text See FAA Advisories. If you see that note, tap the text to view the FAA advisory that affects your plan.

   Note:

   Before you fly a mission, you should always check for advisories, and if necessary, request permission for the mission. To do so, tap See FAA Advisories. The ArcGIS Flight app has an integration with Airspace Link, an approved FAA UAS service supplier for the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) requests. This allows you to place the request from ArcGIS Flight.

Save the plan

Next, you'll save the flight plan you created. Saving a flight plan allows for a mission to be accurately repeated. You can also use a saved flight plan to download the basemaps for offline use when you do not have an internet or a cellular connection in the field.

1. Above the map, tap Save Flight Plan.

   

2. For Flight Plan Name, type CH Survey plan.

   

3. Tap Save Flight Plan to Project.

Download an offline map

You'll download the flight plan and mapping data for offline use in the field.

1. Tap the close button.
2. In the Exit to Main Menu pop-up, tap Exit.

   Your flight plan has already been saved.

3. From the ArcGIS Flight home screen, tap Flight Plans.

   

4. For the CH Survey plan you created, tap Download.

   

   The Downloading map message and progress bar appear. When the download process is complete, you'll have the flight plan data stored locally on your device for use in the field.

5. When the download is complete, close the Flight Plans window.

Fly the plan

Next, you'll go to the site, set up the drone, check it, and fly the mission.

Note:

You won't actually be able to fly the mission in this tutorial, as it is configured for the University of Redlands campus.

1. From the ArcGIS Flight home screen, tap Flight Plans.

   

2. Tap the CH Survey plan flight plan you created.
3. Tap Next.
4. Tap Fly.
5. Click the video link to see a recording of a collection mission.

   

   Sample ArcGIS Flight collection mission video

Capture additional detail

You've learned how to set up an oblique crosshatch survey. For best-quality 3D reconstruction, it's recommended that you also fly a nadir (camera pointed straight down) area survey capture and combine the oblique and nadir datasets in processing. To do this, you'll follow the process outlined above, but with a few different parameters.

The following steps show you how to set up an area survey capture:

1. In the home pane, choose Area Survey.
2. Set the Mission Name and Mission Location parameters.
3. Define the mission polygon.
4. Turn on Terrain Follow.
5. Set Flight Height to 300 feet.
6. Set Overlap to 75%.
7. Set Sidelap to 70%.
8. Confirm Gimbal Angle is 0 degrees.

   This is the nadir, or downward-pointing angle. This allows for top-down, minimally distorted images that are useful for creating true-orthos and high quality 3D reconstructions.

9. Enable the Geofence option.
10. Save the flight plan.
11. Fly the mission.

Postflight steps

After you've flown the mission and collected imagery on the drone, you'll transfer the imagery to ArcGIS Flight or to Site Scan for review and processing.

Note:

You won't be able to follow along with the following steps. They are presented as an example.

1. Once your drone completes the mission, tap Done on the mission complete screen.

   On the home screen, a number is highlighted next to the Missions section in the upper part of the screen. This number displays the total number of pending missions to retrieve and download your raw imagery. If you have a Site Scan Operator license, you can take advantage of a wireless upload to Site Scan for processing.

   The Missions button allows you to manage the postflight workflows of pending missions. Completed missions are categorized into Pending, Imported, and Uploaded.

   • Pending—Imagery remains on the vehicle and has not yet been brought into ArcGIS Flight.
   • Imported Missions—Imagery has been brought into ArcGIS Flight, users can use the image viewer and mission map areas to locate and inspect each image.
   • Uploaded—Completed missions with imagery that have been brought into ArcGIS Flight and uploaded to Site Scan for processing. Only Site Scan users will see the Uploaded tab.

   Note:

   ArcGIS Flight supports two methods for importing imagery from your drone: wireless transfer or using an SD card reader adapter. Wireless transfer is the simplest way to get images from your drone to your tablet. It works well for a single mission or missions with a low number of total images. The drone and controller must be powered on and the tablet must be connected to the controller through the whole image transfer. Transfer using an SD card reader is the fastest way to import multiple missions at once. Transfer speed is not limited by the strength of connection between the drone and tablet. After choosing the imagery transfer method, ArcGIS Flight will attempt to automatically locate all imagery corresponding to the selected mission or missions from the connected vehicle.

   The wireless transfer process requires a stable connection between drone and controller through the whole image transfer.

   Note:

   The Connected status indicates which vehicle ArcGIS Flight is connected to. However, users must confirm the connected vehicle is the same vehicle used to capture the imagery for the selected mission or missions. Otherwise, ArcGIS Flight will fail to locate the mission imagery on the connected vehicle.

2. On the Pending tab, choose the mission or missions for imagery import and tap Import Images.
3. In the Import Images window, choose Wireless Import.
4. Ensure that the connected vehicle has a status of Connected.
5. Tap Import.

   Note:

   If you have a Site Scan Operator license, you can enable Upload to Site Scan After Importing or Quick Upload Copy of Mission to automatically upload imagery to your Site Scan organization. If enabled, these processes will only start once all imagery has successfully been imported from the selected mission. Otherwise, you can store your images on ArcGIS Flight and download them when necessary to use for processing with another Esri ArcGIS Reality mapping product, or using third-party software.

6. View a web scene of the combined processed results of an oblique view Crosshatch Survey and a nadir view Area Survey.

   

   The mesh and point cloud will be useful in visualizing massing and placement options for the new campus structures.

In this tutorial, you learned how to create a project in ArcGIS Flight, choose a drone, set the survey type, and configure the mission area. You learned how to set a flight height, enforce terrain following, and apply a geofence to keep your drone within the project area. You also learned how to review the advanced settings, such as the overlap and sidelap percentages, and how to check for FAA advisories for your project area. Finally, you learned how to save the project and download the data to your device for offline use. You also learned about the procedure to fly the mission and general workflow for postflight processing.

For more information about ArcGIS Flight, see the documentation and the product page.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to University of Redlands for the use of their campus and for allowing Esri to capture this imagery dataset of their campus.