Map basics

DroneField’s main working surface is the map canvas in the middle column. Every visual layer of the selected project is shown here.

Map provider

DroneField offers two providers:

Apple Maps (default on macOS)

• The native map engine of macOS
• Fast, smooth, low bandwidth
• Adequate detail across Europe
• Same UX as the native Maps app

OpenStreetMap (OSM)

• The community-built map (osm.org)
• Roads, cadastral context — agricultural areas often have more field-edge and cart-track detail in OSM than in Apple Maps
• Same projection
• Heavier on internet (tile downloads)

Switch under Settings → Map → Provider. The change is applied immediately on every open map.

Styles

Each provider has two main styles:

Satellite

Look at the field directly from above, with actual satellite imagery.

• Apple Satellite (Hybrid) — satellite + labels (roads, towns). Apple Maps Hybrid mode, native.
• Esri World Imagery (if you choose OSM) — high-resolution satellite tiles worldwide (server.arcgisonline.com).

Satellite imagery freshness varies — some areas may be 1–2 years old. Your orthomosaic will always be fresher!

BaseMap (cartographic)

The classical drawn map — with roads, water bodies, labels.

• Apple Standard — native Apple BaseMap, with country-specific labels
• OpenStreetMap Standard — tile.openstreetmap.org tiles

Style switch: Settings → Map → Style.

Active combination

The Settings → Map → Active combination section shows the source currently in use (e.g. server.arcgisonline.com (Esri)) and the style.

Map controls

Mouse / trackpad

• Zoom in — wheel up, pinch out, or ⌘+
• Zoom out — wheel down, pinch in, or ⌘-
• Pan — click & drag
• Reset zoom — ⌘0 (fits the project area)

Keyboard

• ⌘+ / ⌘- — Zoom
• ⌘0 — Fit project area
• Arrow keys — Pan

Full list: Keyboard shortcuts.

Layers

The left sidebar (for the selected project) shows the active layers. Each has a toggle:

• Flight path — green line of the drone’s path
• Orthomosaic — the finished RGB image
• DSM — surface model (greyscale + contours)
• NDVI (and GNDVI / NDRE) — vegetation index
• Field boundaries — boundaries you drew / imported
• Application map — the VRA grid

You can also adjust each layer’s opacity with the slider next to it — useful for an NDVI showing through the orthomosaic.

Layer order

Layers render top-down:

[top]     Field boundaries
          Application map
          NDVI / GNDVI / NDRE
          DSM
          Orthomosaic
          Flight path
[bottom]  Basemap (Apple / OSM)

The order isn’t manually adjustable, but you can achieve what you need with the toggles.

Missing source file

If you move a project to another machine and the Layers/ folder is partially corrupted, a layer may appear as “Missing source file”. Rerun processing to fix.