GSD (ground sampling distance) is how much ground one pixel covers. The smaller the number, the smaller the things you can see.
For example, at 2 cm/px a 50 cm backpack is 25 pixels across.
Use the 35 mm equivalent focal length from your drone's spec sheet. On most DJI drones it is 24 mm for the camera and 40 mm for thermal.
| 8K7680 pixels wide | |
|---|---|
| 4K3840 pixels wide, common for recorded video | |
| 1080p1920 pixels wide, common for the live feed | |
| Thermal640 × 512 |
Fill in every box with a number above zero.
Use your altitude above the ground under the drone. The numbers assume the camera points straight down over flat ground.
The camera's view spreads out on the way down. The ground it sees is shared out between thousands of pixels across the picture. The width of ground one pixel covers is the GSD.
Three things set your GSD. Your altitude, your lens, and how many pixels the camera records. Drag the drone up and down and switch cameras to see how many pixels land on a person and a car.
Uses the lens sizes you entered above.
Thermal cameras record far fewer pixels, so they use a narrower lens. A warm person stands out against cool ground, so a few pixels can still be enough to spot them.
Eagle Eyes plans to add the ability to conveniently calculate GSD in Eagle Eyes Pilot and Eagle Eyes Mirada in an upcoming release.