DJI Thermal Analysis Tool: A Guide

• Process and analyse radiometric thermal drone imagery with the DJI Thermal Analysis Tool; 
• This free software package can be used across a range of industry verticals and enables users to identify specific temperature information or abnormalities within a data set;
• These insights can be vital for preventing or addressing major issues in critical infrastructure;
• DJI Thermal Analysis Tool 2.0 is compatible with the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and the H20T camera for the M300 RTK.  

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool is a free software solution which enables operators of the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and DJI Zenmuse H20T sensor to process and analyse their radiometric thermal drone imagery.

It is a particularly powerful tool for identifying temperature information of specific/critical areas of a data set; ideal for detecting and pinpointing temperature abnormalities. This in turn helps to prevent or address major incidents - spotting issues before it is too late.

The programme is beneficial for a variety of applications, such as monitoring energy equipment, infrastructure inspection, scientific research, and civil surveying.  

Which Drones/Cameras Are Compatible With The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool? 

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool 2.0 - released in 2021 - is compatible with the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced drone, as well as the H20T payload, engineered for the DJI M300 RTK aircraft.

The V1 version - released in 2020 - is compatible with the H20T, as well as the XT S thermal camera.

The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is a lightweight and portable drone with integrated thermal and visual sensors. The thermal sensor - upgraded from previous Mavic 2 Enterprise drones - has a 640 x 512px resolution and a 30Hz frame rate. It also has a dedicated 16x thermal zoom.

The H20T is a IP44-rated quad-sensor payload which can be integrated with the Matrice M300 RTK - DJI's most powerful enterprise drone to date. Its thermal sensor has the same resolution as the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, as well as an 8x digital thermal zoom.

DJI Thermal Analysis Tool: Conducting Analysis

After collecting the date from the thermal drone, it is time to conduct analysis on it.

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool offers users several features to collect detailed thermal insights.  

Importing Images

Click Pic Preview on the Home page and select the folder with the infrared images to be analysed. The preview images appear as below.

Click the image. The interface on the right displays the environmental and image information. Double-click the image to enter the Analysis page.

Colour Palettes

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool enables users to toggle between a range of colour palettes to interpret their data.

Some of the key palettes are: 

• White Hot: The most commonly used pseudo colour, using white for high temperature and black for low temperatures. The versatility of White Hot makes it appealing for use in shifting landscapes and urban areas.
• Black Hot: The reverse of White Hot, with black for warmer objects and white for cooler ones. Black Hot is popular for law enforcement, as it displays body heat in a clear, lifelike image.
• Iron Red: Highlights differences in heat signatures, quickly displaying anomalies. The colour shows heat distribution: Hotter objects appear as light colours and colder objects appear as dark, cool colours. Iron Red is ideal for industrial inspection thermography.
• Rainbow 1: Ideal for highlighting nuanced differences in temperatures; particularly useful for small temperature changes. Rainbow 1 reduces the warm colour ratio and increases the cold colour ratio for high temperature targets to better show the details of cool targets.
  
  

The chroma bar on the right of the screen can be used to adjust the colour scale of the pseudo color to highlight objects in a specific temperature range, changing the distribution of the pseudo-color gradation and overall contrast.

Please note that when analysing images taken by the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, the chroma bar can be dragged to adjust the mapping relationship between temperature and colour.

When using an image from the Zenmuse H20T, the isothermal icon must be selected first before adjusting the chroma bar.

Area Measurements

One of the key features of the DJI Thermal Analysis Tool is its ability to allow users to analyse and compare specific temperatures and differences in temperatures in an isolated part of a dataset.

There are numerous ways of doing this: 

• Spot Meter: Click and left-click the point that needs to be measured in the image. The temperature of that point will be displayed. Drag the point to change the position to measure.
  
  
  
  
• Line Measurement: Click to measure the highest, lowest, and average temperatures of a straight line. 
• Rectangle Measurement: Click to measure the highest, lowest, and average temperatures of a rectangular area.
  
  
   
• Circle Measurement: Tap to measure the highest, lowest, and average temperatures of a circle area. 
• Polygon Measurement: Click to measure the highest, lowest, and average temperatures of a polygon area. 

Isotherms

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool enables users to observe isotherm data.

Isotherms are bright colors that highlight certain temperature ranges in a grayscale image.

They are a useful way of identifying hot equipment operating outside of safe limits or cold areas that might indicate a water leak. Firefighters can use isotherms to detect fire hotspots.

In the DJI Thermal Analysis Tool, the temperature outside the temperature range will be displayed as white hot by default or as black hot by tapping and selecting black hot.

This function is only available when analysing images taken by a Zenmuse H20T.

Thermal Parameters

The environment parameters of each temperature measurement object can be adjusted to improve the accuracy of the analysis. These parameter settings include:

• Ambient Temperature: The ambient temperature will affect the radiation of an object. The closer the input value to the actual ambient temperature, the more accurate the measurement.
• Reflected Temperature: The surface of the target that is measured may reflect the energy radiated by surrounding objects.
• Emissivity: How strongly the surface of the object is emitting energy as thermal radiation.
• Distance: The distance from the camera to the target. Being too close or too far away will result in bigger accuracy errors when measuring.
• Humidity: Configure this parameter based on the actual environment. The default value 70 means that the relative humidity is 70% and the value range is 20 to 100%.

Please note that the ambient temperature, emissivity and distance parameters can be set with the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced. Reflected temperature, emissivity, distance and humidity parameters can be set with the H20T.

Extracting A Thermal Report

Once the temperature analysis is complete, users are able to extract a thermal report.

The software will generate a PDF report and a Word report containing the environment information parameters and the thermal image with temperature measurements.

By clicking Export Pic, a picture containing the current temperature measurements can be exported in BMP format.

Operating System Requirements

Both versions of the Thermal Analysis Tool are only available for Windows; not Mac.

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool 2 is recommended for Windows 10 or above. It can be downloaded here.

The V1 is recommended for Windows 7 or Windows 10 or above. It can be downloaded here.

DJI Thermal Analysis Tool - Summary

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool 2.0 is specially designed for the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and H20T payload.

Thermal imagery is a powerful solution to identify fire hotspots or identify defects/issues of critical infrastructure and assets. 

The DJI Thermal Analysis Tool enables users to gather in-depth insights about specific areas of their thermal data sets to make informed and quick decisions.