Drone Photogrammetry GSD & Mission Planner

Physical sensor width. Common: Mavic 3 / M3E Hasselblad 17.3, P4 RTK 13.2, M3 Pro tele 11.4, Mini 3 9.6, Mavic 2 Pro Hasselblad 13.2, full-frame 36.

Physical sensor height. 4:3 sensors: width × 0.75. 3:2 sensors: width × 0.667.

Actual lens focal length, NOT the 35-mm equivalent. M3E 12.29, P4 RTK 8.8, Mini 3 6.7, Mavic 2 Pro 10.26.

Above ground level. Lower altitude = finer GSD but more flight lines.

Overlap between successive images along the flight line. 80% is standard for orthomosaics; 85–90% for vegetation or 3D models.

Overlap between adjacent flight lines. 70% is standard; 80%+ for tall structures and vegetation.

Cruise speed during image capture. 5 m/s is typical for mapping; faster speeds risk motion blur and triggering misses.

Camera shutter speed. 1/1000 s = 0.001. Faster shutter allows higher ground speed without motion blur.

Optional. Add to get total image count, flight lines, mission time and SD card size. 1 ha = 10,000 m². 1 acre ≈ 0.405 ha.

Per-battery usable mapping time. Mavic 3 Enterprise ~35, P4 RTK ~27, Mini 3 ~30. Used to compute battery swaps.

Approximate per-image file size. RAW DNG ~30–40, large JPEG ~10–15.