- What does ArcGIS Drone2Map do?
- What is ArcGIS Drone2Map? Is it an app, an ArcGIS Desktop extension, or something else?
- How do I try the software?
- Does ArcGIS Drone2Map work only with a specific type of drone?
- Can ArcGIS Drone2Map be used to process multispectral imagery and create special imagery analysis products such as an NDVI for the agricultural markets?
- How will the resulting imagery products be stored so I can share them on ArcGIS Online? Will it be expensive?
- How do I share 3D files created by ArcGIS Drone2Map?
- Do I need ArcGIS Pro to process files from Drone2Map?
- Can I use ArcGIS Drone2Map with ArcGIS Enterprise?
- What is the workflow for using Drone2Map in a disconnected environment?
- What is the recommended software for mission planning with Drone2Map?
- Does Drone2Map scale?
- Can I run Drone2Map version 2023.1.x and Drone2Map 2.3.x on the same computer?
- What are the advantages of version 2023.1?
- Are additional vertical coordinate systems supported in Drone2Map 2023.1.x?
- Is there a limit on image size in Drone2Map 2023.1.x?
- Will Drone2Map work from a command line interface?
- Can multiple users share one Drone2Map license?
- Is a named user allowed to access Drone2Map on multiple machines?
- What training is available for Drone2Map?
- Are offline maps available in Drone2Map?
- Can I use a 2.x project template with Drone2Map 2023.1.x?
- Can Drone2Map calculate the volume of excavated areas?
- How is Drone2Map licensed?
ArcGIS Drone2Map is designed to be generic for all drones. There are two important details:
- The drone must collect latitude, longitude, and altitude. Most commercially available drones automatically add this information to the image metadata (the EXIF header of each image file), and this is read by Drone2Map.
- Drone2Map must also have
information about the camera—specifically, the lens focal length
and sensor size.
Nearly all modern cameras are supported in an existing camera database, and this database is updated frequently, so any new cameras not currently in the database should be supported within a short time frame. If your camera is not included in the database, Drone2Map will attempt to create the required information from information in the EXIF header. You can also manually edit the camera model or provide your own parameters for any cameras that don't already have values in the database by using the Edit Camera pane.
Can ArcGIS Drone2Map be used to process multispectral imagery and create special imagery analysis products such as an NDVI for the agricultural markets?
Yes, most popular multispectral cameras are supported, including support for radiometric calibration for some cameras by using reflectance panels. For more information see: radiometric calibration. After the imagery is processed, it can be converted into various agricultural and soil indices to assess crop health, such as NDVI, SAVI, and more.
How will the resulting imagery products be stored so I can share them on ArcGIS Online? Will it be expensive?
The imagery products created by ArcGIS Drone2Map are stored locally on your computer and may be shared as hosted tile and imagery layers (for 2D products) or scene layers (for 3D products) on ArcGIS Online. They are inexpensive to store. For example, the tile layer of the sample dataset, Oatlands Historic House and Gardens, requires 85 MB of storage, at a monthly cost of less than $0.01. For information about credit usage, see ArcGIS Online credit usage.
Similar to ArcGIS Pro, you can check out the license while connected before taking it offline into the field. Once back in the office, you must check in the license for connected use.
Note:
Authorization for offline use is set to expire when either a) your current Drone2Map license expires, or b) your ArcGIS Online organization account expires.
Most commercial drone manufacturers include a mission planning application with their hardware offerings. These are typically adequate for Drone2Map missions, but you may want to consider Esri's free flight planning app, Site Scan for ArcGIS - LE, which allows direct connection to your ArcGIS Online account, to plan flights based on custom GIS data layers.
When you buy a Drone2Map subscription, you get a license entitlement for Drone2Map and an ArcGIS Online named user credential. The license entitlement can only be assigned to one named user at a time, and thus, a single license entitlement cannot be shared. Note, however, that the license entitlement can be revoked from one named user and assigned to another at any time during the duration of the subscription. Also, note that sharing a single named user credential with multiple users is prohibited.
Getting Started with ArcGIS Drone2Map is a free course from Esri Training that focuses on best practices to capture and validate your drone imagery. The Learn ArcGIS lesson Get started with ArcGIS Drone2Map teaches you how to transform drone imagery into 3D GIS data. You'll use Drone2Map to add drone images to a map, create 3D data from 2D imagery, and share 3D data to ArcGIS Online. Additional Esri training courses will be available in the future.
Offline basemaps are not available in Drone2Map 2023.1.x. It is recommended that you use Tile Package Kreator from Esri Labs to create offline basemaps for use in Drone2Map.
No, older projects can be upgraded to be compatible with Drone2Map 2023.1.x, but project templates from older versions of Drone2Map will throw an error when attempting to import. This is by design as the internal options and capabilities of the software have drastically changed between 2.x and 2023.1.x.