Weather Considerations for Flying the R3 Pro

Here's what you need to consider about the weather when flying your R3 Pro

Operating Temperature Range

  • -20 to 65 degrees Celsius (-4 to 149 Fahrenheit)
  • Operation outside of this temperature range increases the likelihood of data collection error
  • When determining if the temperature is suitable flight consider other factors that affect temperature such as windchill, direct sunlight, etc

Extreme Weather Temperatures 

  • Cold batteries can often result in reduced performance meaning you may need to plan for reduced flight times
  • Overheated batteries can have a similar problem
  • Consider making a plan for how to keep your batteries warm or cold as indicated before flight and during/after charging

Wind

  • Each drone/airframe has a wind rating to note the maximum "sustained" and "gusty" winds that the aircraft can handle - NEVER fly in excess of those recommendations for safety sake and because your data is highly likely to be inaccurate.
  • Understand your wind:
    • Sustained = average wind speed over an amount of time
    • Gusts = fast bursts of wind for short amounts of time - these are the most troublesome as gusts of wind can require rapid flight reactions from your aircraft to stay on the flight path
  • Wind that causes frequent adjusting movements of your aircraft is more likely to result in inaccurate readings or "fuzzy" data sets  due to the change in IMU/LiDAR orientation 

LiDAR Data Collection & Snow 

  • Scanning snow covered ground means you will get the snow contours above the ground, rather than the ground contours so consider if this is acceptable for your project. 

Moisture

  • The R3 Pro is not rated for flying in moisture including fog, mist, rain and snow - we recommend flying only in dry conditions to prevent damage to your unit