MicaSense RedEdge Camera Data Process

[QimingChen]

1. Can Drone2Map do Radiometric Processing and Calibration to get radiance and use MicaSense Reflectance Calibration Panel to get reflectance values like Pix4D?

2. The vegetation and soil indices are calculated based on raw pixel values (digital numbers) in Drone2Map. This makes comparison of data of different areas and/or different date of acquisition not possible. It would be better if we can calculate these indices using the reflectance values.

3. After data processing, only data in red, green, blue, and NIR bands are available. Why is Red Edge band data NOT available/shown?

4. According to Dronw2Map online help documents, there is Image Information Pane under the Tools group on the Analysis tab, but I couldn't find it.

[GISArchbold]

Did you find a solution to your first question, on if Drone2Map will do the calibration using the reflectance panel? If it doesn't, how do you calibrate it before processing in Drone2Map?

[JeffClark2]

I am also interested in hearing if this has been resolved. I see that the D2M Processing Report has a section called "Camera Radiometric Correction", but I don't see any way to actually preform the correction. The help page on how to decipher the Processing Report doesn't explain it and should be updated. 

[Taren_Esri]

Hi Jeff. At this time, there are no options for radiometric correction within Drone2Map. We do expect to see this functionality added in a future release due to popular demand. In the meantime, I generally recommend performing this work in ArcGIS Pro

[thomash_geoowl]

Hi Taren,

Any updates to this functionality one year later? I just spent a good amount of time prepping a multispectral project only to discover I cannot do radiometric calibration because the tool does not calculate Average Panel Reflectance when using images of calibration targets. Seems odd to put all the work into creating the tool, only to leave it hanging for years without repair.

Thank you,

Thomas

[CodyBenkelman]

Hi, sorry I did not see these messages long ago.  It's right here in the Help

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/drone2map/latest/help/radiometric-calibration.htm

was also available in v2022.1

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/drone2map/2022.1/help/radiometric-calibration.htm

[thomash_geoowl]

Thank you for the resources. When I follow the provided steps, I sketch an area on the target image as prompted. However, instead of the software calculating the Average Panel Reflectance, I am prompted with "Enter the average reflectance value for the panel" rather than "Click OK to calculate the reflectance value" as shown in the links you provided. From your links it seems this value should be auto-populated once I sketch the polygon.

[CodyBenkelman]

I'm sorry I did not see this question for 10 months.  No, the software cannot autopopulate the % reflectance value for the panel.  Your drone will record an image, with brightness levels in the range of 0..255 assuming an 8 bit sensor.  The calibration process is seeking to answer "What is the average pixel value on the image when it views a gray object with [for example] 50% reflectance?"

This provides a data point to convert pixel values from 0..255 into values representing percent reflectance.  (It is generally assumed that 0% reflectance would result in a pixel value of 0, so these two reference points define the linear equation from pixels to reflectance - but this depends on the specific drone and camera.  Esri implements calibration calculations recommended by the manufacturer, so we follow their specifications for this process).  

[FranciscoCáceresClavero]

I am very inexperienced in these questions, but I believe that in the "Average Panel Reflectance" field you must enter the value that appears on the QR of the calibration panel of your Micasense, corresponding to the spectral band that is being calibrated. When you enter this value and click OK, you return to the previous window with the value of the calculated reflectance factor. Could someone confirm that this is done like this?

I have a question as to whether the unit of measurement for the "Average Panel Reflectance" that appears in the Micasense panel is the same one that must be entered in the "Average Panel Reflectance" field in D2M.