Guides

In-depth articles connected to UAV Meteo's actual features — not generic filler.

23 guides

Drone Propeller Icing: When and Why It Happens

Drones have no de-icing, and propellers collect ice faster than any other part of the aircraft. When icing happens, why temperatures just below freezing are the worst, what research shows about thrust loss, and how to spot the risk before you fly.

How Cold Weather Affects Drone Batteries

Cold doesn't drain a drone battery — it stops the battery delivering its energy. Why voltage sags and flight time drops below about 10°C, which drones are rated for what temperatures, and a winter routine that actually works.

Flying Drones in Hot Weather: Heat, Batteries & Lift

Heat affects a drone in ways cold doesn't — overheating batteries, thinner air that cuts propeller lift, and bumpy midday thermals. What happens above 30°C, which drones are rated for 40°C or 50°C, and how to plan a summer flight.

Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) Rules for Drone Pilots

What keeping a drone in visual line of sight actually requires under FAA, EASA and UK CAA rules, why FPV goggles don't count, how observers fit in, and how haze, low sun and small airframes shrink the distance you can legally fly.

How to Read a NOTAM as a Drone Pilot

A line-by-line walk through a real-format NOTAM — the Q-line, the UTC time window, and the altitude limits that decide whether a restriction starts at the ground or far above your drone. Plus where to find NOTAMs and TFRs for your flight.

Why Keep a Drone Flight Log (Even If Not Required)

The most useful thing a flight log gives you is not paperwork — it's your own wind, cold and battery limits, learned from flights you actually flew. What to record, what your drone already logs for you, and how to turn a season of entries into better go/no-go decisions.

Ground Sample Distance (GSD) for Drone Mapping

GSD is the size of one image pixel on the ground, and it decides what a drone survey can and cannot show. The formula, worked examples for common DJI cameras, why a 48 MP sensor does not always halve your GSD, and how to choose a flying height.

Image Overlap for Drone Mapping: How Much Is Enough?

Front and side overlap decide whether photogrammetry software can stitch your images at all. What the percentages mean on the ground, recommended values for normal sites, forests, snow and corridors, and how wind and light quietly reduce the overlap you actually get.