8. Mission management [BETA]

Important

This feature is currently only available in a beta version of MISSIONPLANNER and is undergoing testing.

TOPOFLIGHT’s Mission management makes it possible to divide projects into individual missions.

Projects requiring multiple missions involve e.g. projects with staggered schedules, organizational separations or supplementary flights. Each mission contains a set of entire and/or partial flight lines. The size of a mission depends on different factors, such as the number of possible flight hours, weather conditions and separation between areas with and without snow and foliage conditions.

Each mission can be transmitted to the flight crew individually. When a crew loads a mission, only the selected lines and partial lines are displayed in NAVIGATOR.

At the end of a flight day, the flight crew can send their information on collected images and lines to the office. The individual missions make it easy to obtain the current status of the project’s progress. Based on this information, additional missions can be defined or existing missions can be adjusted and forwarded to the flight crew.

8.1. Mission selection

At the top of the secondary sidebar, select the mission you would like to work on.

You can also switch between missions by clicking the corresponding sunburst chart under OTHER MISSIONS which is colored according to the flight line and image status.

When you hover the mouse over a chart, a tooltip will appear displaying the respective mission name.

Hint

If no individual missions have been created, the Complete flight plan is automatically selected. This default flight plan is created automatically and is available for every project. It includes all flight lines. While you can modify its properties (such as transfer speed and turn time), you cannot delete or add lines. To make such changes, copy the flight plan and save it under a new name.

8.2. Defining, editing and deleting missions

Creating a new mission:

You can access this option from any selected Current mission.

1. In the secondary sidebar, click .

2. In the section OTHER MISSIONS, click .

3. A dialog box opens in which you can enter the name of the new mission.

4. The Current mission automatically switches to the newly created mission.

5. To add lines to the mission use the options in the EDIT MISSION section (see below for details).

Editing missions:

By default, flight lines that are in currently selected missions are displayed in black. All others are shown in gray. Line properties can be changed in the Settings.

Hint

To improve visibility in the workspace, deactivate unnecessary layers by unchecking the box next to the layer name in the layers panel.

Adding lines to a mission:

1. To edit an existing mission, select a Current mission and click .

2. In the EDIT MISSION section, click to add lines. Lines that are in the project are black, all other lines are now colored according to their status.

   

3. In the box Select options chose if you would like to add single, multiple, all or partial lines.

4. In the workspace, any colored (not black) lines can be added:

   • left-click an individual line

   • left-click and drag the mouse over several lines or hold shift pressed, left-click and drag the mouse to use a rectangle for the selection of lines

   • left-click the line for which you would like to add part of a line. The line turns blue with a circle on each end. Left-click a circle and slide it to the desired position. The selected part of the line stays blue, while the unselected part turns red. Right-click to end the modification process.

Removing lines from a mission:

1. To edit an existing mission, select a Current mission and click .

2. In the EDIT MISSION section, click to remove lines. Lines that are not in the project are gray, all other lines are now colored according to their status.

   

3. In the box Select options chose if you would like to remove single, multiple, all or partial lines.

4. In the workspace, any colored (not gray) lines can be removed:

   • left-click an individual line

   • left-click and drag the mouse over several lines or hold shift pressed, left-click and drag the mouse to use a rectangle for the selection of lines

   • left-click the line for which you would like to remove part of a line. The line turns blue with a circle on each end. Left-click a circle and slide it to the desired position. The selected part of the line stays blue, while the unselected part turns red. Right-click to end the modification process.

(De)selecting highlighted lines:

It is often helpful to know which lines have already been assigned to other missions.

In this case, the functions listed in are particularly useful.

1. In the EDIT MISSION section, click .

2. Choose one of the following buttons:

   

3. The lines matching your selections are highlighted in red in the workspace.

4. To automatically remove or add those lines, use the buttons

   

   or click to manually select flight lines for the mission.

Further editing functions:

1. Click at the bottom of the secondary sidebar to activate the editing function for the following mission-specific fields:

   

2. You can now modify the following fields:

   • Name: Serves as the mission’s identifier

   • Assigned to: A mission can be assigned to a certain operator. Add further names to the dropdown menu by making an additional entry in the corresponding section of the Settings.

   • Created by: This field is filled automatically. The name of the current operator can be changed in the corresponding section of the Settings.

   • Turn time: This value is used to calculate the remaining time of a mission. It is added as a fixed value to each flight line to account for the approach time.

   • Transfer SP: Speed of the aircraft from the airport to the project area.

   • Mapping SP: Speed of the aircraft on a flight line. This value is used to calculate the remaining time of a mission.

   • Deprecated: Check this box if the mission is outdated and no longer in use.

3. Click to save the changes.

Creating a copy:

You can create a copy of a mission for faster editing, such as easily selecting all unselected lines when splitting a mission.

1. Select the Current mission you intend to copy and click .

2. In the EDIT MISSION section, click .

3. A dialog box opens in which you can enter the name of the new mission.

4. The Current mission automatically switches to the newly created copied mission.

Deleting missions:

1. To delete an existing mission, select a Current mission and click .

2. A dialog box will appear, prompting you to confirm the deletion of the current mission by clicking OK.

Important

The buttons for adding, removing or deleting missions are deactivated when the complete flight plan is selected.

8.3. Project progress and history

8.3.1. General overview

When is selected, a sunburst chart of the current mission is shown in the section SELECTED MISSION along with details on the mission status.

Small sunburst charts are also displayed for OTHER MISSIONS in the respective section (hovering over the chart symbol will reveal the mission’s name).

8.3.2. Detailed view and history

For a more detailed view, select .

Easily switch between missions or show the details of the entire project by selecting the respective Current mission.

Exploring flight line/image properties and their history:

1. Select a mission and click .

2. In the workspace, hover over a flight line or an image (the line/image is highlighted in red) to display detailed data on the selected line or image in the secondary sidebar. A history of the line/image (see below for further explanation) is provided at the bottom of the secondary sidebar.

3. Click on a line or image position to permanently select that element. The data in the secondary sidebar will now remain fixed for the selected item, allowing you to scroll up or down through its details. This is especially helpful for elements with a long history.

Hint

Use MISSIONPLANNER’s charts for an in-depth analysis of flown lines and image properties.

Image and flight line history

For IMAGES, the history includes the date the image was taken, the status and the operator name.

For LINES, the history lists the starting point (From) and endpoint (To), the date, the status and the operator name. Even if the line was flown only once, the history may contain multiple rows of entries, as each status change generates a new row. An error message in the middle of a line would thus generate three rows in the history with the statuses green-red-green.

8.4. Updating the project

You can manually update the status of images and flight lines. Common reasons for doing so include blurry or missing images, cloud cover, or failure to meet project specifications.

In such cases, the status initially assigned by NAVIGATOR can later be adjusted by the operator during post-processing. For images marked as successful, NAVIGATOR will not trigger the camera to capture a new image if the flight line is reflown. When a flight line is selected in NAVIGATOR, it is automatically cropped to only include sections that are not yet marked as successful.

Important

All manual status updates are stored in the cache and are only permanently saved in new .csv files in the _IMAGES and _LINES folders when the user clicks .

Updating the status of line(s):

1. Click .

2. In the box Select options chose if you would like to modify the status of single, multiple, all or partial lines.

3. Select the status you would like to apply to a line or lines either from the drop-down menu or by clicking on the corresponding status in the LEGEND.

4. In the workspace, modify lines by left-clicking an individual line, by left-clicking and dragging the mouse over several lines or by holding shift pressed, left-clicking and dragging the mouse to use a rectangle for the selection of lines.

Hint

For a better overview, click and enable or disable the display of flight lines and images depending on their status.

Adjust line properties, such as color and width of the line, in the Settings.

Partial line modification:

1. To modify only part of a line, click and, in the Select options box, select Partial line .

2. In the workspace, left-click the line you would like to edit.

3. The line turns blue with a circle on each end.

4. Left-click a circle and slide it to the desired position. The selected part of the line stays blue, while the unselected part turns red.

5. Right-click to end the modification process.

Hint

For better visibility, use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of the map.

8.5. Charts / Histograms

In the secondary sidebar of the main page, select for an in-depth analysis of the following flight line properties of flown lines and taken images:

• dx: Deviation in x

• dy: Deviation in y

• dz: Deviation in altitude

• 2D: Deviation vector length

• 3D: Deviation vector length

• dRoll: Deviation in dRoll

• dPitch: Deviation in pitch

• dHeading: Deviation in heading

• Sun angle: Azimuth of the sun

• Deviation across flight line

• Deviation in flight direction

• Date: Summary by capture dates

• Crew: Summary by operator

Flight lines that are manually assigned a different status are automatically given deviation values of 0.

Histograms only include lines or images with a status of Successful, Warning or Error - the statuses Refly, Not Flown and Undefined are excluded.

Depending on the sensor status settings , either the Latest or the Best result for each line or image is used.

Analyzing flight line properties:

1. In the secondary sidebar, select .

2. From the drop-down menu, select a flight line property to create a histogram of the corresponding data.

3. Optionally modify the number of range bins and the unit.

4. Move the mouse over the histogram to display more information on the data in the MOUSE POSITION section.

5. Have selected data points highlighted in red on the map in the workspace by specifying the properties in the SELECTION section and clicking Select. To remove the highlighted points, click Remove selection.

6. Create a color-coded map of the selected flight line property in the workspace by clicking Show in the section DRAW ON MAP. Click on the color box below the buttons to modify the coloring scheme. Click Hide to remove the color-coded map.

8.6. Postflight quality control

Create postflight quality control maps to assess how well the flown flight lines meet the project requirements. The postflight calculations are based on the actual GNSS and IMU data. However, the calculated footprints determined through aerotriangulation and trajectory analysis may still vary.

Postflight QC also helps you determine which lines might have to be reflown. You can then easily update the flight line status accordingly.

Hint

Postflight QC maps are created in the same manner and share the same properties as preflight quality control maps.

Creating postflight QC maps:

1. Click in secondary sidebar of the Missions main page.

2. Choose the sensor for which you wish to perform a postflight quality check. If a sensor system is used, the GSD of the oblique sensor can be of interest. It can be chosen in the second dropdown menu.

3. Select the specific type of quality control map you need by clicking on the corresponding button.

4. Select the specific type of quality control map you need by clicking on the corresponding button.

5. The box below, which displays the quality control map options, is now filled with suggested colors and corresponding value ranges.

6. To modify individual ranges, click on a row, update the minimum, maximum, and optionally, the legend, and then click on the left of the box. It is also possible to remove selected entries or delete all entries. Current classifications can be saved to a file or be loaded from a file.

7. Choose an alternative unit in the dropdown menu under the box, if desired.

8. When determining point density, select one of the three computation options for Overlapping areas:

   • max for the maximum value

   • min for the minimum value or

   • sum for the summation of the individual values (default)

9. Click to create the postflight quality control map.

8.7. Deviation vectors

The actual location of an image often differs slightly from its planned position. To better understand the magnitude and direction of this deviation, you can display both the positional deviation (horizontal deviation, 2D) and the height deviation (altitude deviation, 1D). Keep in mind that the postflight position is calculated based on the actual GNSS and IMU data, which imposes certain limitations on its precision. However, this data is more than sufficient for an initial assessment of flight line and image quality.

Diplaying deviation vectors:

1. Click in secondary sidebar of the Missions main page.

2. In the Topics box select either the positional deviation, the height deviation or both.

3. To improve the visibility of the vectors, enter a magnification value and press Enter to apply it.

4. Adjust the color and line width of the vectors in the Settings.

8.8. Data exchange

8.8.1. Transferring project data

Methods for exchanging data between NAVIGATOR and MISSIONPLANNER:

1. NAVIGATOR saves the relevant data in the _LINES and _IMAGES folder. Exchange the entire project folder, including geometries and image metadata.

2. Alternatively, only exchange the new data saved by NAVIGATOR in the _LINES and _IMAGES folders.

3. Use the automatic import and export of .TFX files (described below) which simplifies the exchange process as only a single file needs to be transferred.

8.8.2. Import options

After a mission or parts of a mission have been flown, the respective .TFX file(s) can be imported. They contain all information on the images, lines and missions.

Upon import, new files are added to the existing _IMAGE, _LINE and _MISSION folders. This updates all flight line and image information while preserving the history.

Important

Never manually modify the .csv files in the _IMAGE and _LINE folders! Doing so will corrupt the history.

Importing .TFX files:

1. In the Missions tab, click .

2. Click Import a single TFX and, in the window that opens, select the file you would like to import. The new files from the selected .tfx will be added to to the existing _IMAGE, _LINE and _MISSION folders.

OR

1. If Import all TFX in the export folder is selected, all .tfx files in the export folder will be used to update the files in the existing _IMAGE, _LINE and _MISSION folders.

Hint

Find detailed information on .tfx file naming and content here.

8.8.3. Export options

Any changes made to the active project are saved either by clicking in the workspace or by exporting the project, as outlined below.

As soon as the export options are accessed for a project for the first time, a new folder _EXPORT is created in the project folder. All exported missions are saved in that folder as a .TFX file.

Exporting .TFX files:

1. In the Missions tab, click .

2. Select the files you would like to save (files from today/all files). In order to minimize the file size it is recommended to export only files from today.

3. Click Export for default export location and filename.

4. Click Open folder to access the export directory - for example, to confirm the files were saved correctly or to check the most recently saved version.

5. The exported .TFX file now can be given to the crew that can easily import the updated mission into NAVIGATOR.

Hint

In , you can adjust the name of the operator before exporting a project for a certain pilot, crew or mission.

You can also choose to export only the footprints. Footprints are essential for post-processing analysis, as actual footprints often differ from the planned ones. Use them to identify gaps, assess flight path quality, or detect potential camera issues.

In the export options, you can choose between exporting the footprint of the entire flight line or the overlapping footprints of the individual images.

Exporting footprints as layers:

1. In the Missions tab, click .

2. In the EXPORT FOOTPRINTS section select Temporary layer. Click the respective button below to create a new layer PostMission_Footprint or PostMission_Image_Footprint in the workspace.

Exporting footprints as files:

1. In the Missions tab, click .

2. In the EXPORT FOOTPRINTS section select File and Click the ellipsis to choose the file name and save location.

3. Click the respective button to export either the image footprints or the footprints.

Exporting reports as .pdf files:

1. In the Missions tab, click .

2. In the EXPORT REPORTS section select the page size and units to be used.

3. Click Export flight report to generate a .pdf file that contains information on the lines flown each day, sorted by flight date.

4. Click Export project summary to generate a .pdf file that provides an overview of the entire project, sorted by flight line number.

8.9. Status display settings

Click for flight line and image status display options. Use these features to simplify mission analysis as well as mission editing or creation by showing or hiding specific flight lines and images based on their status.

The status Undefined is uncommon and typically should not occur under normal conditions.

Hint

Got to Settings to adjust the flight line and image status display properties, such as the line width and color.

Enabling/Disabling display of lines and images:

1. Individual selection: Enable or disable the display of each line or image status by checking or unchecking the respective box.

2. Quick vertical selection: click the word Line or Image to automatically check or uncheck all boxes for all lines or images.

3. Quick horizontal selection: click the status name to automatically activate/deactivate the boxes for this status.

Check the box Show image labels and select the property (Image ID or capture FrameID/Time/Code) you would like to have displayed.

For flight lines flown multiple times, select Latest to display the most recent data or Best to show the highest-quality data. When using Best, results from different missions may be combined to display the overall best data available for each line/image.