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Calcimator

Ground Sample Distance (GSD) Calculator

Calculate ground sample distance from flight altitude, sensor size, and lens focal length for drone mapping and inspection.

Inputs

ft
mm
mm
px

Results

Ground Sample Distance

2.74 cm/px

GSD27.41 mm/px
Ground Coverage Width150 m
Sensor Pixel Size0 mm
Altitude for 2cm GSD73 m
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter flight altitude (m AGL), camera sensor width (mm), and lens focal length (mm).
  2. Set image width (pixels) for your camera's horizontal resolution.
  3. Review ground sample distance (GSD) in cm/pixel and mm/pixel.
  4. Use the altitude-for-2cm-GSD output to plan the minimum flight altitude for mapping-grade accuracy.
  5. Lower GSD values mean higher resolution — reduce altitude or use a longer focal length to improve GSD.

How the result changes with Focal Length

Focal LengthGround Sample Distance
131.86 cm/px
370.65 cm/px
660.37 cm/px
900.27 cm/px

What each input means

Flight Altitude
Altitude above ground level in meters.
Sensor Width
Physical width of the camera sensor.
Focal Length
Camera lens focal length.
Image Width
Horizontal pixel count of the camera.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Flight Altitude = 100, Sensor Width = 13.2, Focal Length = 8.8, Image Width = 5472 = 4 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Ground Sample Distance
    Ground Sample Distance
    2.74 = 2.74
  3. Calculate GSD
    GSD
    27.41 = 27.41
  4. Calculate Ground Coverage Width
    Ground Coverage Width
    150 = 150

Engine last updated . Checked against 1 independently-derived test — how we verify calculators.

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