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Drone Coverage Area Calculator

Work out drone coverage area instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Drone Coverage Area Calculator

The ground footprint of a frame is sensor width times altitude divided by focal length. Sidelap between adjacent flight lines reduces the useful swath, so effective coverage per line is the footprint multiplied by one minus the sidelap fraction — this is what sets total flight distance for a survey.

Formula

Photogrammetric swath

footprint = sensor width x altitude / focal length; effective swath = footprint x (1 - sidelap)

Worked example

With the default values below, Drone Coverage Area Calculator returns Effective swath width of 42.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Flight altitude
80 m
Sensor width
13.2 mm
Focal length
8.8 mm
Sidelap
65 %

Results

Effective swath width
42.00 m
Ground footprint width
120.00 m
Ground sample distance
2.193 cm/px
Area covered per kilometre flown
4.20 ha

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Photogrammetric swath
  3. 3Effective swath width= 42.00 m
  4. 4Ground footprint width= 120.00 m
  5. 5Ground sample distance= 2.193 cm/px
  6. 6Area covered per kilometre flown= 4.20 ha

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is high sidelap needed?

Structure-from-motion matching needs every point seen in several images from different angles. 60-70% sidelap is typical, and more for featureless or vegetated ground.

How does altitude trade against detail?

Flying higher covers more per line but coarsens ground sample distance proportionally, so resolution and flight time trade directly.

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