Thermal Images in PIX4Dmatic
This article provides an overview of supported thermal image formats, recommended image acquisition settings, and supported thermal cameras and drones.
Introduction to thermal mapping
Thermal mapping uses infrared imagery to capture and visualize temperature variations across a scene. Unlike conventional RGB imagery, thermal images capture infrared radiation emitted by objects and surfaces. Thermal mapping can be used in applications such as:
- Inspection of solar panels and electrical infrastructure
- Building and roof inspections
- Industrial asset inspection
- Agriculture and vegetation monitoring
- Environmental monitoring
- Identification of temperature anomalies
Starting with PIX4Dmatic 2.9.0, thermal images can be processed with PIX4Dmatic Standard and PIX4Dmatic Pro licenses to generate a thermal orthomosaic.
Which thermal image formats are supported?
PIX4Dmatic supports radiometric thermal image formats, such as RJPG and TIFF, as well as non-radiometric thermal image formats, such as JPG.
| Format | Description |
| Radiometric JPEG (RJPG) | A JPEG image containing radiometric temperature information in the image metadata. |
| Radiometric TIFF |
A TIFF is a grayscale image containing radiometric temperature information from the thermal camera. |
| Non-Radiometric JPEG (JPG) | A JPEG thermal image containing a colorized representation of temperature without the original radiometric temperature values. |
What are the recommended thermal Image acquisition settings?
The following are the minimum requirements for thermal image acquisition to ensure that the dataset can be processed as expected in PIX4Dmatic.
- Image overlap: Capture images with a minimum of 90% front overlap and 90% side overlap. Use an automated grid mission for image acquisition.
- Image resolution: The images must be taken at a minimum resolution of at least 640x480 pixels. Resolutions below 640x480 pixels are not supported.
Which thermal cameras and drones are supported?
PIX4Dmatic supports thermal datasets captured with DJI, Skydio, and FLIR thermal cameras. Below is the list of supported thermal cameras.
DJI thermal cameras:
- DJI Mavic 3 Thermal (Mavic 3T) Enterprise
- DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced
- DJI Matrice 30T
- DJI Matrice 4T
- DJI Zenmuse H20T
- DJI Zenmuse H20N
- DJI Zenmuse H30T
- DJI Zenmuse XT
- DJI Zenmuse XT2
- DJI Zenmuse XT S
Skydio thermal cameras and drones:
- Skydio X10 (VT300-Z & VT300-L)
FLIR thermal cameras:
- PIX4Dmatic supports thermal images captured with FLIR-manufactured thermal cameras, provided that the camera and image metadata have not been modified by a third party.
Autel thermal cameras:
- Autel thermal cameras are currently not supported in PIX4Dmatic.
Disclaimer: Not all cameras listed above have been individually tested by PIX4D. Based on the available image formats and metadata, we expect these cameras to be supported. If you experience any issues or find a discrepancy, please contact PIX4D Support and provide the original image dataset for verification.