Understanding Data Formats

If you’re new to drone data and photogrammetry, this guide will help you understand what each format is, what it contains, and when you’d use it in AVAG.

JPG / JPEG – The standard photo format captured by drone cameras. When you fly a site, your drone saves each frame as a JPG. These raw photos are what you upload to AVAG for photogrammetric processing. AVAG then transforms them into useful outputs like orthophotos, elevation models, and point clouds.

GeoTIFF (.tif / .tiff) – A georeferenced image file, meaning it contains not just visual information but also precise geographic coordinates embedded in the file. In drone surveying, GeoTIFFs are typically used for two outputs: the orthophoto (a top-down aerial image corrected for distortion) and the DSM (a Digital Surface Model representing terrain elevation). If you’ve already processed your photos in another software, you’ll likely have GeoTIFF files ready to import.

DSM – Digital Surface Model – A raster file (usually GeoTIFF) representing the elevation of everything visible from above – buildings, trees, machinery, stockpiles, and the ground itself. It’s the foundation for volume calculations, slope analysis, and terrain profiles in AVAG.

LAS / LAZ – The standard file formats for 3D point clouds. A point cloud is a dense collection of georeferenced 3D points captured either by a drone camera (through photogrammetry) or a laser scanner (LiDAR). LAS is the raw format; LAZ is a compressed version of the same data. Both are supported in AVAG. Point clouds are used for highly detailed 3D visualization, classification, and volume analysis.

Mesh (.obj / .mtl / .jpg packed as .zip) – A 3D mesh is a surface model made up of triangles, often with a photographic texture applied. It gives you a realistic 3D representation of the site that can be viewed and measured in AVAG’s 3D view. Meshes are typically generated alongside point clouds during photogrammetric processing.

LandXML (.xml) – A standard format used in civil engineering and construction for exchanging 3D design surfaces, alignments, and terrain models. In AVAG, LandXML files are used to import design surfaces – for example, the planned final grade of an earthworks project – so you can compare them directly against your survey data.

DXF – A CAD file format developed by Autodesk, widely used in construction and surveying for 2D and 3D drawings. In AVAG, DXF files are used to overlay construction drawings, road alignments, boundary lines, and other vector data on top of your aerial data.

GeoJSON – A lightweight, open standard format for representing geographic features (points, lines, polygons) with coordinates. Commonly used in web-based mapping applications and GIS tools.

Shapefile (.shp) – One of the most widely used formats in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for storing vector data – points, lines, and polygons with associated attributes. Shapefiles are typically exported from surveying software and land registries.

TXT – A simple plain-text file used in surveying to store lists of point coordinates, typically in X, Y, Z format. Used for importing GNSS survey points and GCP coordinates into AVAG.