Accounting for Wind

Wind is not itself a problem. However, gusting and turbulent wind conditions can cause the aircraft to pitch and roll quickly, potentially reducing data quality.

Rules of Thumb

If the aircraft autopilot is having trouble maintaining straight and level flight due to gusting conditions, the data quality may be reduced.

Flight plans should be designed such that flight legs are cross wind (90 degrees to the predominant wind direction) to maintain a constant ground speed throughout the duration of the flight without excessive change in aircraft pitch. Flight patterns going with or against the predominant wind may develop data quality differences on adjacent flight legs due to differences in aircraft pitch, blur distance, and along-track overlap.

Multirotors will attempt to maintain a constant ground speed regardless of wind conditions. If the Multirotor is flown into the wind in one direction and with the wind in the other, the flight legs into the wind require a much steeper pitch angle to match the ground speed of flight legs with the wind, likely changing the pointing angle of your sensor to a non-nadir orientation.