Orthomaker Metadata Detection From Imagery

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03-10-2019 02:24 PM
TilmannSteinmetz2
Occasional Contributor

We're running ArcGIS Enterprise 10.6.1 with Raster Analytics and are testing the Orthomaker app with our Drone Imagery.

 

Our Drone specialist tells me that his tests so far indicated that processing Drone Imagery in Orthomaker will be a good addition to his workflow - the process worked relatively quickly and produced good products.

 

However he seems to have a pretty regular issue with the Orthomaker workflow that doesn’t easily recognise the GPS data from the image EXIF, while other programmes do. His feeling is that this platform works well when DJI drones with DJI cameras are used, but when third party cameras are used the EXIF information isn’t recognised.

(he commented: "because we are often testing camera systems (multispectral/hyperspectral), we often rig third party equipment to the drones.")

 

Can others report any such findings and potential recommendations? Do you pre-process imagery before adding into Orthomaker (e.g. by exporting Metadata to CSV etc.).

 

Thanks

 

Tilmann

 

Leigh Tait

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4 Replies
JayChen
Esri Contributor

Hi Tilmann,

Ortho Maker leverages the same camera library as ArcGIS Pro, so I wonder if you have tried the same dataset with Pro and if that worked out. DJI drones are included in the camera library but so do a lot of other drone camera models.

If the camera model in your case is in the camera library, Ortho Maker should be able to find it from your exif info. Otherwise, it will give you the opportunity to edit the camera information by providing focal length, pixel size, columns and rows (these four parameters are required).

Let me know what camera model you are using and I can possibly check for you. Or, if you have a sample drone image that can share to me, I can try it out in Ortho Maker and see if there is any bug in the app.

Thanks,

-Jay

TilmannSteinmetz2
Occasional Contributor

Hi Jay - good to know that it's the same camera library so cross-checking in ArcGIS Pro becomes a valid option. I am copying Leigh Tait‌ so he can send you more information about the cameras used (as I don't know) - thanks for your offer to check -

Cheers,

Tilmann

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CodyBenkelman
Esri Regular Contributor

Tilmann

We're always adding new camera definitions, but it's hard to cover everything in advance.  If your GPS data is not recognized, note you can import GPS data in a CSV file

and if your camera is not known, you can enter the minimal required metadata:

Note the above should be true assuming you have an RGB camera.  Hyperspectral cameras are not supported (and likely will never be) since they don't capture full frame images.  As for multispectral cameras, if you're using one of the multi sensor cameras which don't have co-registered frames (Micasense RedEdge, Sequoia, Slant Range, Sentera, some of MapIR & TetraCam), those will be supported in a future version. 

Multispectral cameras made by modifying a single chip RGB Bayer-array sensor (MapIR Survey 3, AgroWing) should be able to process although you may have to manually re-sequence the spectral bands.  If you use a multisensor camera with an internal beamsplitter (Fluxdata, and I believe some TetraCam models?), these should also process properly since the spectral bands are aligned.

Note I'm going from memory on these different multispectral camera models, but one key issue is whether the spectral bands are aligned in the raw images.  Another issue is the number of image files captured at a single exposure station.  For any cameras that save multiple files per exposure, you'd need to process different spectral image collections separately (based on the current version of Ortho Maker - in the future, we may be able to add some features to handle these unusual configurations).

Cody B. 

TilmannSteinmetz2
Occasional Contributor

Hi Cody.

Thanks for your detailed reply - I don't know any of the detail around cameras used so will get Leigh Tait‌ to send the information through. He did mention Hyperspectral so perhaps that was where the issue was. I will send an update when I know more -

Cheers,

Tilmann

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