Mapping with Drones 2

By the end of the course, you will be able to: 

• plan flight routes over complex terrain and obstacles
• plan and execute RTK GNSS, ground control surveys to calibrate and validate drone data
• assess and report on spatial accuracy
• process drone data using WebODM advanced options and evaluate outputs
• conduct and validate cut/fill volume analysis
• perform advanced raster analysis from data outputs

Software and computer requirements

This course will use a variety of geospatial software including Google Earth, QGIS, Web OpenDroneMap (WebODM), and Map Pilot Pro. You will require both a desktop computing environment (Windows or macOS) and a mobile computing environment (Apple iPhone or iPad).

Software Fees

• WebODM:$90 for Windows or $139 for macOS to support a streamlined software setup.   
• Map Pilot Pro: for Apple iOS with Pro Level Subscription available through mapsmadeeasy.com for $15 USD per month. 

Specific software instructions will be provided during week one of the course. Please do not download any software until you are notified by your instructor.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Windows Desktop Computing 

• Windows 11 or newer (some versions of Windows 10 are supported as well, see https://endoflife.date/windows for a full list).
• 64bit CPU with MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3 and SSSE3 instruction set support or higher (most CPUs manufactured in the last 10 years meet this requirement). Windows on Arm is not supported.
• 20 GB free disk space
• 8 GB RAM (16GB or more is recommended for better performance).

Note: Additional RAM, an SSD hard drive, and newer generation processors will process datasets more rapidly.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for macOS Desktop Computing

• macOS 12 or newer. Apple Silicon (M1+) is supported.
• Mac hardware must be a 2010 or newer model and support virtualization.
• 20 GB free disk space
• 8 GB RAM (16GB or more is recommended for better performance).

Note: You will not be able to process more than 100 images with 8 GB of RAM. For this course, 8 GB of RAM is sufficient. For larger datasets, refer to the Recommended System Requirements or consider purchasing access to the lightning network. 

Important: WebODM installers do not work on 32bit computers. 

Minimum Requirements for Mobile Computing

• iPad or iPhone - minimum iOS 13 or newer.

Note: Androids will not be supported or recommended for use in this course due to complexities associated with the software applications that will be used.