Estimate the ground area an inspection drone can survey per flight and per operating day. Speed, sensor swath, usable flight time, overlap, field efficiency, and daily flight count are combined into a practical coverage estimate.
The result is an effective mapped area, not the area inside the drone's maximum range circle. It reflects the strip width and overlap of a survey pattern.
Terrain, altitude restrictions, image resolution, line-of-sight limits, transit distance, and re-flights can reduce actual coverage.
At 24 km/h, a 40 m swath, 28 survey minutes, 30% overlap, and 75% efficiency, one flight covers 23.52 hectares. Six flights cover 141.12 hectares per day.
No. Swath is the usable ground width captured on each pass and depends on the sensor and altitude.
Overlapped portions are photographed more than once, so they do not add new ground area.
No. Enter only the portion of flight time spent collecting useful inspection data.
The calculator multiplies hectares by approximately 2.47105.
No. Operational range and airspace compliance must be evaluated separately.
| Input | Role in the estimate |
|---|---|
| Survey speed | Average speed while collecting usable data. |
| Effective sensor swath | Usable ground width per pass. |
| Survey time per flight | Time collecting data, excluding transit. |
| Pass overlap | Lateral overlap between adjacent passes. |
| Field efficiency | Allowance for turns and irregular boundaries. |