GCP Request Checklist

Use one of our supported drones. 

Learn more in our Recommended and Supported Drones Article.

Identify your use case.

Identify the level of accuracy needed for the use case.

See our section on Understanding Ground Control to learn more.

Choose your workflow. 

To learn more about which high-accuracy workflow would work best, see our article on Choosing a High-Accuracy Workflow.

Determine the number of GCPs and checkpoints needed based on your high-accuracy workflow chosen.

Identify locations of the GCP and Checkpoint targets. 

For best practices see Best Practices for Ground Control Points. 

Layout your GCPs and Checkpoints so that they will be completely visible from above and 50ft/15m from any obstruction.

Using high-accuracy survey equipment, gather the coordinates of the center of the GCP and Checkpoint targets in the desired coordinate system. 

Record all coordinates and EPSG code (Coordinate Reference System).

Ensure your survey EPSG matches your DroneDeploy project EPSG code (best practice).

To learn more, read about Best Practices for Ground Control Points.

Download a .csv template found here:

• Northing / Easting Template (ft)
• Northing / Easting Template (m)
• Latitude / Longitude (m)
• Custom Latitude / Longitude Template (m)
• Custom Coordinate Template (m)
• Custom Coordinate Template (ft)

Ensure your column heading and units match your EPSG code?.

Ensure checkpoints have “checkpoint” written in front of their number in the GCP label column.

See our GCP .csv File Formatting article to learn more.

Add a GCP and Checkpoint .CSV file in the smart uploader after uploading your map photos.

Assign an EPSG code to your .CSV file.

Learn more in our Uploading and Processing Ground Controlled Maps section.

Follow the link in the email or the link in the upload section to tag your GCPs and Checkpoints.

Learn more about tagging in our Tagging Workflow for GCPs and Checkpoints article.