06 Measurement And Analysis

AVAG’s measurement and analysis tools let you extract precise data directly from your drone datasets. All tools are accessed through the Measurements panel in the left sidebar.

Volume calculations

Volume calculations are performed within a drawn polygon. Draw a polygon on the map or select a polygon to open its detail panel, then click Measure volume.

Single layer – surface to base plane

When only one DSM layer is active, AVAG calculates the volume between the terrain surface and a defined base plane. Choose your base surface method from the dropdown:

Triangulated – creates a best-fit triangulated base across the polygon boundary. The most accurate method for irregular terrain.
Lowest point – uses the lowest elevation point within the polygon as a flat base plane.
Highest point – uses the highest elevation point as the base plane.
Average point – uses the average elevation as a flat base plane.
Custom – lets you manually specify a fixed elevation for the base plane.

Click Execute to run the calculation. The layer ID is shown on the Execute button (e.g. “Execute (-676)”) so you always know which layer is being used.

Between two layers – DSM vs DSM

When two DSM layers are active, AVAG calculates the volumetric difference between them, for example, how much material has been added or removed between two survey dates. The Execute button shows both layer IDs (e.g. “Execute (1940, 1937)”) to confirm which surfaces are being compared.

Toggle Also generate cut/fill map to automatically produce a visual cut/fill map alongside the volume result.

Exporting volume results

Click Export protocol to download a PDF report containing the volume results, polygon details, and project information. For batch calculations across multiple polygons, use the All Measurements panel accessible from the top of the Measurements view.

Terrain profiles & cross-sections

Elevation profiles and cross-sections are generated from a drawn line. Select a line on the map to open its detail panel.

Elevation profile

Click Generate in the Elevation profile section to produce a terrain profile along the line. Set your preferred resolution before generating (e.g. 0.20m or 0.25m): finer resolution gives more detail but takes slightly longer to generate.

The profile chart shows the elevation along the line length, with a separate colored line for each active layer. Hover over the chart to see exact elevation values per layer at any point along the profile. This makes it easy to compare terrain changes across multiple survey dates on a single chart.

Profiles can be exported to DXF or CSV directly from the profile chart panel. Organize your lines into folders in the Measurements panel to easily share profiles with colleagues.

The line detail panel also shows: Length (2D), 3D Length, Height (elevation difference between start and end), and Slope (in degrees).

Automatic cross-section generator

Cross-sections are particularly powerful when working with road or corridor projects. Start by importing a DXF drawing as an overlay to use as a reference, then either draw or import a center line along your corridor.

Once your center line is in place, configure the cross-section settings:

Stationing – set the starting chainage to match your drawing (e.g. 67.800 km)
Along – spacing between cross-sections in meters (e.g. every 20m)
Left – width of each cross-section to the left of the center line in meters
Right – width of each cross-section to the right of the center line in meters
Reversed direction – toggle to reverse the direction of stationing

Click Generate in the Section profiles section to produce the cross-sections. They appear as yellow lines on the map, labeled with their stationing value. Each cross-section can be selected individually and its profile generated and exported to DXF or CSV.

Organize your cross-sections into folders in the Measurements panel to share them directly with colleagues.

Cut/fill maps

Cut/fill maps provide a visual overview of where material has been added (fill) or removed (cut) between two survey dates, within a defined polygon area.

Cut/fill maps can be generated in two ways:

During volume calculation – toggle Also generate cut/fill map before clicking Execute on a polygon volume calculation
After volume calculation – click Generate in the Cut/fill map section of the polygon detail panel

The resulting map is color coded:

Blue – fill (material added)
Red – cut (material removed)
White – no significant change

You can adjust the no-change threshold to filter out minor variations – for example, setting a 10cm or 50cm threshold means changes smaller than that value are shown as white rather than cut or fill.

Cut/fill maps can be generated from a single layer (one DSM) or between two layers (two DSMs). Once calculated, create a folder in the Measurements panel, organize your polygons into it, and share the folder directly with colleagues who have access to the project.

Cut/fill maps are accessible from the Cut/Fill Maps section in the left sidebar after they have been generated.

Other measurements

In addition to volume and profile analysis, AVAG automatically calculates the following measurements for each shape type:

Points – X, Y, Z coordinates with elevation read automatically from the active DSM layer.

Lines – 2D length, 3D length, height difference between start and end points, slope in degrees, highest point, lowest point.

Polygons – 2D area, 3D surface area (accounting for terrain).