GSD Calculator

Calculate Ground Sample Distance and coverage area for drone mapping and photogrammetry missions.

Camera Presets

Camera Sensor

Sensor Width

Focal Length

Image Width

Image Height

Flight Parameters

Altitude (AGL)

Front Overlap

Side Overlap

Ground Sample Distance

3.59cm/px

Standard mapping resolution

Single Image Coverage144.8 × 108.6 m

Coverage Area1.572 ha

Unique Coverage / Image36.2 × 38.0 m

Unique Area / Image0.138 ha

Images per Hectare~8

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How It Works

Ground Sample Distance (GSD) is the distance between two consecutive pixel centers measured on the ground. Lower GSD means higher resolution imagery.

Formula: GSD = (Sensor Width × Flight Altitude × 100) ÷ (Focal Length × Image Width). The result is in cm/pixel.

Coverage Area is calculated from the GSD and image dimensions: Width Coverage = GSD × Image Width, Height Coverage = GSD × Image Height.

Overlap reduces unique coverage per image. Standard mapping uses 75% frontal and 65% side overlap. Higher overlap improves 3D reconstruction quality.