XYZ Coordinates for Ground Control Points

Data Processing - Discussion and Q&A
1

Is there a way to use local coordinates from a survey (X,Y & Z Coordinate Points) for ground control points to help improve the accuracy of the solution? We own several Nikon Total Stations that we use to survey and would like to incorporate our survey data with DroneDeploy.

2

Hi @bkwaggie,

Have you taken a look at our blog post Create Survey-Grade Maps in Minutes with Self-Serve Ground Control Points?

Hope this provides some helpful info.

Cheers,
Christina

3

Does DroneDeploy support the use of LOCAL control points to improve map accuracy? Specifically, I would like to use total station data (non-gps) or laser scan data to establish control. Absolute accuracy is not important. I care only about relative accuracy.

If DD does not support this, are there plans to in the future. I know multiple paid-account users that are desperate for this functionality. Thank you.

Mark Ericksonf

4

@Mark_Erickson - Are you talking about local grid where the coordinates are not State Plane? I.E. 5000,5000,500…

5

Hi @Mark_Erickson,

We do not officially support processing GCP maps using local reference systems at this time. We don’t have any news or updates to share about whether or not this will be added down the road, but I’m happy to pass along this request to the appropriate team so it’s on their radar.

Cheers,
Christina

6

I’m not sure what State Plane is… I have total station data that could provide Drone Deploy with a set of “control points” in a local coordinate system. This data should allow DD to increase the relative accuracy of the map…if they supported this type of data.

Thanks for your help, Michael

7

If you don’t know what state plane coordinates are then it’s most likely that you are using a true arbitrary grid. State plane is a system where each state is broken up into several zones and a consistent grid is applied to those zones so that everything is in relation to each other. Depending upon your steak most of them are broken up into North, Central and South. These are the coordinate systems that are traditionally used by engineers and surveyors. If you use CAD files some of them Navy on state plane, but some are not. Support for arbitrary coordinate system has been talked about and is being tested, but there is no timeline or guarantee cheap it will be released. There are a lot of different factors that have to be accounted for so that GPS data can be correctly transformed to a local grid.