Exporting to QGIS

QGIS is the free, open-source GIS application that opens DroneField’s GeoTIFF, Shapefile and KML exports directly. This combination is ideal when you want to:

• See multiple project results side by side
• Add your own GIS analyses
• Go beyond the report with deeper analysis

What to export

DroneField produces QGIS-compatible files (paths inside the project folder):

Layer	Where?	Format
Orthomosaic	Layers/<project>.tif	GeoTIFF RGB, EPSG:4326
Index map (coloured)	Exports/<INDEX>_<min>-<max>.tif (Save as GeoTIFF (QGIS) in the index panel)	GeoTIFF 8-bit RGBA, EPSG:4326
Band files (raw values)	Layers/band_G/R/RE/NIR.tif (multispectral), Layers/rgb_band_R/G/B.tif (RGB indices)	GeoTIFF Float32
Field boundaries	Exports/Shape/<project>.shp	ESRI Shapefile
Application map	Exports/Hardi/*.zip	ESRI Shapefile in a ZIP (Hardi VRA)

The DSM is not exported as an elevation GeoTIFF — DroneField stores it only as a coloured heat-map image (Layers/dsm_ortho.png

• .pgw), which QGIS can display but not use for elevation analysis.

Installing QGIS

Download from the official site: qgis.org/download. Mac, Windows and Linux versions are all free.

After install, launch QGIS Desktop.

Loading a DroneField project in QGIS

1. New project in QGIS (Project → New).
2. Drag these files from Finder / Explorer into QGIS one by one:
   • Layers/<project>.tif (orthomosaic)
   • Exports/NDVI_<min>-<max>.tif (coloured index map, if exported)
   • Layers/band_*.tif (if you want to compute indices yourself)
   • Exports/Shape/<project>.shp (if exported)

QGIS places every layer at its correct CRS — no manual georeferencing needed.

3. In the Layers panel on the left, reorder as needed:
   • On top: field boundaries
   • In the middle: index map
   • On the bottom: orthomosaic

NDVI visualisation in QGIS

The index GeoTIFF exported from the panel is a coloured image (8-bit RGBA) — it shows the map exactly as in DroneField, but holds no index values. For real index values (your own colour ramp, thresholds, statistics), compute the index from the Float32 band files in Layers/.

Computing NDVI from the band files

1. Drag Layers/band_NIR.tif and Layers/band_R.tif into QGIS.
2. Raster → Raster Calculator…
3. Expression, e.g. for NDVI: ("band_NIR@1" - "band_R@1") / ("band_NIR@1" + "band_R@1") (NDRE: use band_RE instead of band_R; GNDVI: band_G.)
4. Choose an output file (e.g. ndvi.tif) and click OK.

For RGB indices use rgb_band_R/G/B.tif — e.g. NGRDI: ("rgb_band_G@1" - "rgb_band_R@1") / ("rgb_band_G@1" + "rgb_band_R@1").

Setting up the colour ramp

1. Right-click the computed ndvi.tif layer → Properties.
2. From the left list: Symbology.
3. Render type: pick Singleband pseudocolor.
4. Min / Max: enter values (e.g. 0.0 / 0.85).
5. Color ramp: pick one (e.g. RdYlGn).
6. Mode: Equal Interval with 6 classes.
7. Click Apply / OK.

NDVI now displays with the chosen ramp.

Multiple projects side by side

To see multiple projects in one QGIS session:

1. Create a shared QGIS project (my_farm_2026.qgz).
2. Drag in every DroneField project’s orthomosaic, NDVI, boundary.
3. Group layers per project — right-click in the Layers panel → Add Group.
4. QGIS places them all correctly on a world basemap.

Retrieving statistics

For every raster, QGIS gives you statistics:

1. Right-click → Properties → Information tab.
2. You’ll see:
   • Pixel range (min, max, mean, stddev)
   • Histogram (separate tab)
   • CRS, file size, resolution

The Zonal Statistics tool (built in) computes statistics per boundary from a computed index raster: e.g. “NDVI mean for field #1 = 0.62, stddev = 0.08”.

Web publishing

To make the results available online:

• QGIS QField mobile companion: take the fields out on an iPad for on-site navigation
• QGIS Server / Cloud: web WMS publishing (advanced topic)

Common issues

”Layers are not where they should be”

Check that the QGIS project CRS matches the layers’. The bottom right shows it (e.g. EPSG:4326).

If the layer is in WGS84, the project should be too (or Web Mercator EPSG:3857). Bottom right: click and choose Set project CRS from layer.

”NDVI is only black & white”

An index computed from the Float32 band files is shown by QGIS in single-band grey by default. See Setting up the colour ramp above.