DJI Mavic 3 Thermal (M3T) Flight Guidelines

Flight guidelines for inspecting solar farms with a DJI M3T.

The DJI Mavic 3 Thermal (M3T) drone with its 640×512 resolution thermal camera and 9.1 mm lens can meet the data requirements quickly and efficiently. It is possible to collect 70% front lap and 20% side lap thermal and RGB imagery.

Equipment

Drone: DJI Mavic 3 Thermal (M3T)
Camera: Installed
Computer: Smart Controller
Flight Planning Software: DJI Pilot 2

Sensor Heading

For both IR and RGB inspection-level imagery sets, sensor heading must remain fixed throughout the flight. For example, if flying a fixed-tilt, ground mount site with panels facing south, the sensor should face North throughout the flight. Datasets, where sensor heading alternates with each flight pass (sensor faces North one flight pass and South on the next flight pass), will warrant a reflight.

Image Capture

Front Overlap Ratio: 70%
Side Overlap Ratio: 20%
File Format: JPEG

Obliques

Note: Obliques / High flys are required as part of the flight. For information about how to correctly fly and take oblique images, please see Capturing Oblique Images.

Data Example

The long edge of the solar row aligns with the long edge of the image.

More to come!