ArcGIS includes several options for creating products from drone imagery. This topic focuses on using ArcGIS Drone2Map. Alternatively, you can use ArcGIS Pro Advanced. If your organization needs a software-as-a-service (SaaS) capability, see Site Scan for ArcGIS.
Consumer drones with quality cameras have enabled dramatic growth in the ability of GIS professionals, land managers, and many others to capture their own imagery, when and where required, and process it to create accurate geospatial products.
You generally need to process the individual, overlapping image frames acquired by drones to create a variety of 2D and 3D products, including orthorectified imagery (orthomosaics), digital surface models (DSMs) and digital terrain models (DTMs), point clouds, and textured meshes. These data products are then used for visualization or analysis, and they may need to be shared with colleagues or the public.
ArcGIS Drone2Map provides a workflow-focused interface for creating products from single-frame drone images (assuming adequate overlap). Most modern consumer cameras are fully supported, simplifying the process of bringing your imagery into the app. You can add ground control points to ensure horizontal and vertical accuracy. The resulting products can be used on your local network or published as web-accessible services through ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.1 or later.
Note:
It is recommended that you add ground control points to ensure horizontal and vertical accuracy. Alternatively, if accuracy is not critical for your project, ground control is not absolutely required. If you have a drone with differential GPS capabilities (RTK or PPK), ArcGIS Drone2Map will generate spatially accurate output products without ground control, but your ground control points should be applied as accuracy check points.
Drone2Map also includes workflows for field crews to ensure drones successfully captured images of a project area and for users to review close-range drone images to inspect dangerous or hard to reach locations. Supported workflows for creating products include the following:
- Generating 2D products—Orthorectified mosaics and digital surface models
- Generating 3D products—3D points clouds and textured meshes
Explore the following resources to learn more about using Drone2Map to generate 2D and 3D products from drone imagery.
Note:
ArcGIS Drone2Map also includes workflows for field crews to ensure drones successfully captured images of a project area, and for users to review close-range drone images to inspect dangerous or hard to reach locations. To create products , you must have ArcGIS Drone2Map. You will need an ArcGIS Online subscription account to sign in, which you can also use to publish data products.
ArcGIS help
Review the following links on reference materials for ArcGIS products:
- Read an overview of Drone2Map.
- Get answers to frequently asked questions about Drone2Map.
- Change processing options (such as spatial resolution or the coordinate system) of output orthomosaics.
- Configure Drone2Map.
- Publish 2D products or 3D products as web-accessible services through ArcGIS Online or your ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
Videos
Review the following videos that clarify and demonstrate concepts, software functionality, and workflows:
- See how Drone2Map-generated products can be used for utility inspections and corridor management.
- See the video gallery for more.
Training and tutorials
Review the following guided lessons and tutorials based on real-world problems and key ArcGIS skills:
- In the Get started with ArcGIS Drone2Map tutorial, learn how to create a 3D representation of an office building development from drone imagery and publish the results.
- Search the Esri Academy for Drone2Map to find the latest resources.
- Learn how to create 3D point clouds, texture meshes, and 3D PDFs in Creating 3D Products Using ArcGIS Drone2Map (2-hour web course).
Esri Community
Visit the Esri Drone2Map community. to connect, collaborate, and share experiences regarding creating drone imagery products.