In some cases, you might prefer to process your drone surveys in-house. You might want to run specialized algorithms to enhance the data for your specific use case, or you might be unable to outsource your processing for legal reasons.

Whatever the reason, Sitemark now allows you to use the Sitemark platform to analyze, share and collaborate on your data. This article will explain how to use the Point Cloud + Visual (RGB) Orthomosaic product to upload your self-processed drone survey and gain valuable insight into your data.

The first step is ensuring you have all of your data ready for upload and that it complies with the data input requirements.

In this case, we want to upload a visual orthomosaic and a point cloud, so we must ensure we have those files ready in the correct formats.

Now that you have your data ready, you can go ahead and create your site and order your operation.

If you don't have a site already, you can follow this guide to create one.

Once you have created your site you follow this guide to create your first operation.

Make sure to choose the Point Cloud + Visual (RGB) Orthomosaic data product.

Depending on your sales agreement, you're operation will be ordered immediately (when you have datasets available in your subscription) or it'll be marked as a DRAFT, and you'll have to wait for a quote. Please contact our sales team to find the best solution for your needs.

Since this data product does not contain any data acquisition, you'll notice the operation moves straight to the FLOWN status, meaning it's ready for data upload.

Go ahead and press the Upload data button to get started.

First, you'll have to fill in the date your data was captured. This will allow the Sitemark platform to correctly order the operations and enable useful time-based insights.

Once you have set the date, you can select the files you want to upload. Let's start with the point cloud.

Press the Select file button in the Point Cloud box and select your Point Cloud file. When you've chosen your file, the platform will say the file is ready for upload. If you selected the wrong file, you always clear the file with the Clear button and select the correct one.

Go ahead and press Upload to start the upload.

While the point cloud is uploading, you can already start the upload of the orthomosaic as well.

Now, all that's left to do is to wait for the uploads to finish. After both uploads, the operation will automatically move to the PROCESSING status. You can close the uploader (don't mind the warning about ongoing uploads) and wait for processing to finish.

The platform will have to process your data slightly to enable a smooth experience on the platform and allow you to do advanced volume measurements. Depending on the size of your project, this can take 30 minutes to a few hours. You'll receive an email as soon as the processing is completed, so you know you can start exploring your data!

Your data is ready to use in the Sitemark platform.

You can now use the Sitemark platform to analyze your data, make measurements and annotations, export your findings, share them with others, and much more.