Mapping & Survey
Coverage Calculator
Flight lines, image count and mission time to cover a survey area.
Planning aid only — not certified flight-planning software or airspace clearance. Always verify results against your own aircraft's manual and check current regulations before flying. Full disclaimer.
Fill in every camera field, area and speed to calculate.
What the estimate includes
From your camera, height, speed, overlap and survey area, the calculator works out:
- the image footprint at that height;
- the spacing between flight lines and between photos;
- the number of flight lines, assuming a roughly square site;
- the number of images;
- the flight time along the lines.
It is a sizing tool: it answers "how big is this job?" before you open your mapping app.
How height changes the job
For a 10 ha site with a DJI Mavic 3 Pro, 80% front and 70% side overlap, at 8 m/s:
| Height | GSD | Flight lines | Line distance | Time on lines | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 m | 1.6 cm/px | 13 | 4.1 km | 8.6 min | about 320 |
| 80 m | 2.2 cm/px | 10 | 3.2 km | 6.6 min | about 180 |
| 100 m | 2.7 cm/px | 8 | 2.5 km | 5.3 min | about 120 |
| 120 m | 3.3 cm/px | 7 | 2.2 km | 4.6 min | about 90 |
Going from 120 m to 60 m halves the GSD but nearly quadruples the number of images, which also means much longer processing. Pick the height from the detail you need, not the finest detail you can get. Our guide to ground sample distance helps you choose.
From flight time to batteries
The time shown covers the flight lines only. A real mission also includes:
- Take-off, climb and the flight to the first line, and the return and landing at the end.
- Turns between lines. At the end of each line the drone slows, turns and speeds up again. On sites with many short lines, turns can add a large share of the total time.
- A battery reserve. Plan to land with 20–30% left, more in cold or windy weather.
On small sites these extras can add up to a large share of the total, so leave a generous margin. Then use the Flight Time Calculator to see how much of your battery is really usable in the day's conditions. If the job needs more than one battery, split the site into sections that each fit one battery.
Why real missions differ from the estimate
- The site isn't square. Only the area is entered, so the calculator assumes a square. A long, narrow or irregular site needs more lines and more turns. For a real site shape, draw it in the Mission Planner.
- Flight line direction. Flying lines along the long side of a site means fewer turns. Mapping apps usually let you set the direction.
- Extra coverage at the edges. Extending the flight slightly beyond the boundary improves the map's edges, but adds distance.
- Wind. Lines flown into the wind take longer; lines with a tailwind are quicker, but the drone may need to slow down to keep photos evenly spaced.
Check the weather for the whole mission
A mapping mission can take an hour or more once you include battery swaps. Conditions need to stay acceptable for all of it: steady wind, no rain, and even light. A change of sun or cloud partway through shows up as patchy brightness in the final map. Use Flight Window to check a block of time rather than a single moment.