Ground Control Point (GCP)

Adding a ground control point to your flight plan is optional.

Ground control points are important locations that an investigator wants indicated on the map of the flight plan. A GCP may be used to verify that a location is within the UAVSAR image swath, and at the desired incidence and distance from the aircraft. These calculations are made within the UAVSAR flight planning software, and not by the web flight planning tool.

Add a Ground Control Point

To add a new GCP, click "Ground Control Point" in the map toolbar.
Click once on the map or manually enter lat/lng coordinates to the right of the map. A GCP icon will appear on the map. Its location can be adjusted by dragging the icon in the map or changing the lat/lng coordinates. You may then verify that the image swath covers the ground control point at the desired location within the swath.
To the right of the map, you may also enter a sitename description, orientation and altitude, and comments. Click the "Add to Plan" button to add the GCP to the flight plan.

A video demonstration may be viewed here (no sound). We recommend using full screen and watching in HD.

If a ground control point in the plan is currently selected and you want to make a new GCP, click "Ground Control Point" in the map toolbar or the "New" button to the right of the map.

Update a Ground Control Point

To update a GCP, it must be selected first. There are a couple ways to select an existing GCP: click the GCP icon in the map or click the GCP by name in the "Airports & Flight Lines" list below the map.


Once the desired GCP is selected, you can now change its information (sitename description, comments, etc) to the right of the map. To change the location of the GCP, drag the icon in the map or change the lat/lng coordinates to the right of the map.




If any information is changed, the "Undo" and "Save" buttons will appear where the "Copy" and "New" buttons used to be. "Undo" will revert all your last changes and "Save" will save all those changes.






A video demonstration may be viewed here (no sound). We recommend using full screen and watching in HD.

Delete a Ground Control Point

To delete a GCP, it must be selected first (refer to "Update a GCP" above). There are a couple ways to delete it: click the remove button (-) to the left of the GCP listed below the map or the "Delete" button to the right of the map.

Copy a Ground Control Point

To copy a GCP, it must be selected first (refer to "Update a GCP" above). There are a couple ways to copy it: click the copy button (+) to the right of the GCP listed below the map or the "Copy" button to the right of the map (which only appears if you have not made any changes to the current GCP).

A copy will appear just after the original GCP in the list below the map.