Survey3 cameras contain a 12 megapixel (4000x3000px) 3-channel (bayer RGB) image sensor that records the reflected light in the scene. A special band-pass filter is installed over the image sensor which blocks all wavelengths of light other than those which the filter allows to pass through. By capturing an image of our reflectance reference calibration targets the image pixel values can be converted to percent reflectance after post processing. Each of the captured image's 12 million pixels provides a percent reflectance measurement that can be further processed for multispectral indices like NDVI. Recording the ambient light spectrum with our spectrometer-based light sensor (DAQ-A-SD) allows you to obtain all the necessary data to produce accurate and repeatable reflectance measurements.

Survey3 cameras are available in both a wide angle lens version (Survey3W) and narrow angle lens version (Survey3N). Both lenses are non-fisheye and extremely low distortion, which provide great results when aerial drone surveying or in other remote sensing applications. The Survey3N provides a 2X optical fixed zoom over the Survey3W, providing 2X higher ground sample resolution (GSD).

Survey3 cameras each come with an external Standard GPS/GNSS receiver to provide instant geo-tagging with every captured image. By upgrading to our Advanced V2 GNSS option you will gain better positional accuracy, especially in your altitude measurements. The recommended ambient light sensor (DAQ-A-SD) for the Survey3 cameras includes our Advanced V2 GNSS inside.

Survey3 cameras support the ability to receive an external PWM signal to both trigger the cameras to capture a photo, and also to put the camera into USB Media Transfer mode. This allows you to have the camera always connected to a computer (such as a drone companion computer) and mount/unmount the camera's SD card. Once mounted you can extract the images, process them and save them to a more easily accessible storage device.

We offer 6 different filters for the Survey3 cameras: RGB, RGN, OCN, NGB, RE, and NIR.

The OCN & RGN filters are often used for indices such as NDVI, GNDVI, OSAVI, TVI, CVI, etc. The NGB filter is often used for the ENDVI index. We also provide a visible light color (RGB), rededge (RE) and near infrared (NIR) filter option.