Are you a new or current customer interested in learning about ArcGIS Flight? Check out our Q&A below to learn more!
What is ArcGIS Flight?
ArcGIS Flight is a mobile application that enhances the way drone flights are planned and performed for reality mapping and inspection. Drone pilots can seamlessly access their geospatial content during flight planning, providing valuable context and situational awareness. The app offers different flight modes tailored to specific asset capture needs, while ensuring compliance with federal regulations. Flights are fully automated and repeatable, ensuring consistent high-quality imagery. Post-flight, the app enables in-field quality control and easy integration of the captured imagery for further processing, analysis, sharing, and visualization within the ArcGIS platform.
How can I get access to ArcGIS Flight?
ArcGIS Flight is available on the App Store. Users will need iPadOS version 16.0 or newer and a compatible drone for capturing imagery. To sign in, the user needs to have either a Site Scan Operator license or an ArcGIS Mobile worker user type assigned to them. A user with a Site Scan Operator license can plan, conduct missions, and upload images for processing. A user with an ArcGIS Mobile Worker user type can plan, fly missions, and use other products within the ArcGIS Reality Suite to process images. To process images, ArcGIS Flight is compatible with Site Scan for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Drone2Map, and ArcGIS Reality.
What makes ArcGIS Flight unique?
Together, ArcGIS Flight and Site Scan can create an end-to-end service for data capture, processing, visualizing, and sharing within the ArcGIS system. During flight, take advantage of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC). These requests, supplied by Airspace Link, determine if you are flying in restricted airspace. Additionally, ArcGIS Flight’s Terrain Follow feature uses topographic maps provided by Esri to guide the drone when there are differences in elevation. Post-flight, the app enables in-field quality control and easy integration of imagery into ArcGIS for processing and analysis, including for 3D mesh generation using ArcGIS Reality software.
How can I map over water and vegetated areas in the ArcGIS Flight app?
Mapping trees, dense vegetation, and water can be challenging due to the shapes and reflective nature of these features. For better results, in the flight settings, increase overlap to 85% and sidelap to 70%, and fly at higher altitudes.
What’s coming in 2025 for ArcGIS Flight?
ArcGIS Flight now supports the new U.S. government-approved/Blue UAS approved Freefly Astro Max drone and will support the Mavic 3 Enterprise drones. A new product page and documentation site is on the way, which will include additional resources to help drone pilots plan flights and capture high-quality imagery successfully in ArcGIS Flight.
