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Upload and Processing

What to do when drone-imagery uploads or photogrammetry processing fails.

Agronomist

The drone imagery pipeline has three stages where things can go wrong: upload, processing, and overlap validation. This page covers each.

Upload failures

"File size exceeds the maximum limit of {size}"

Per-file size limit exceeded. Default limit is documented in the drop zone hint.

Fix: re-export images at a lower resolution (still keeping ≥ 12 MP for usable orthomosaics), or split the upload into batches if the limit is total-size.

"Maximum number of files reached"

You've hit the per-job file count cap.

Fix: split the flight into two or more jobs covering different sub-areas of the plot.

"File type not supported"

Most drone cameras produce .jpg. Some produce .dng or proprietary .raw. The portal accepts .jpg, .jpeg, .png.

Fix: in your drone's photo settings, export as JPG. Or convert before upload (Adobe DNG Converter, IrfanView, ImageMagick).

"Error uploading file" (generic)

Network glitch or partial transfer.

Fix:

  1. Check the controller / laptop has internet.
  2. Retry the upload — the portal restarts the job from scratch on retry.
  3. If it fails repeatedly, switch networks (mobile hotspot if Wi-Fi is flaky).
  4. If still failing, open a support ticket with the file count and total size.

Processing failures

"Processing failed. Please try again."

The orthomosaic generation pipeline failed. Common causes:

  • Too few images (< 100). The structure-from-motion algorithm needs enough overlap to converge.
  • Mixed altitudes in the same job. OTM expects fixed altitude.
  • Missing EXIF GPS in the images. The camera or controller wasn't writing GPS tags.
  • Non-vertical camera angle. The mission flew at an angle instead of nadir.

Fix:

  1. Confirm image count is ≥ 100.
  2. Re-fly the capture with fixed altitude + nadir camera if those were the cause.
  3. Confirm EXIF GPS is present (open one image's properties / use exiftool).
  4. Retry the upload.

Stuck in "Processing" for > 2 hours

The worker likely died from a transient platform issue.

Fix: cancel the job (the "Dismiss" action), and re-upload. The pipeline restarts cleanly.

Stuck in "Queued"

There's a queue depth issue on the processor.

Fix: wait. If queued for > 30 minutes, open a support ticket. Don't re-upload — that just makes the queue longer.

Overlap validation failures

"Image outside plot area — The processed drone image does not overlap with the selected plot."

The orthomosaic doesn't cover the plot you've drawn.

Possible causes:

  • You picked the wrong dataset from the Processed Images dropdown.
  • The capture flight missed part of the plot.
  • The plot was drawn outside the flight area.

Fix:

  1. Verify which dataset you have selected. The dropdown lists multiple datasets per field.
  2. If the dataset is right but doesn't cover the plot, redraw the plot smaller (within the orthomosaic) — only if agronomically acceptable.
  3. If the plot must stay at its current size, re-fly the capture to cover the full plot, and re-process.

Sanity checking the processed dataset

Before clicking Save & Proceed:

  • Toggle the Drone (True Color) layer. The orthomosaic should appear as expected — no missing strips, no obvious seams.
  • Toggle the Drone (NDVI) layer. Values should be reasonable (most pixels in 0.3–0.7 for healthy crop).
  • Check the plot polygon is fully inside the orthomosaic. The portal validates this but a visual check catches edge cases.

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Last updated Oct 20, 2018