400' AGL

[MA2 317]

I was looking for a TLA

What's that?

If there's a more commonly used TLA for that altitude value that shows on the screen,

It's called AGL.

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.

Which means, above the launch point of the ground you launched your drone from.

Here's a list of commonly used acronyms that may help with the industry standards.

No need to make up new ones.

Please add it to the list if needed.

Acronyms & Abbreviations

These are common abbreviations you'll find on MavicPilots.com. Feel free to update or append as necessary. Message clackey if you have any questions or concerns. AC = Aircraft ADIZ = Air Defense Identification Zone (place where you propably need filing flight plan) AGL = Above Ground Level...

mavicpilots.com

.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Personally for take off point altitude of a drone, I’ve always liked another members suggested acronym ATOP for ‘above take off point’.
It can have a useful purpose in certain cases.

 

[Chaosrider]

Signal loss would likely happen, unless you have very barren terrain and really good signal LOS to that very exposed landing spot.
A lot of thought to go into resetting home point, mostly about being capable of retrieving a lost or crashed drone.

I thought about doing exactly this for my mountain climbing droning. There's an exposed rock formation about 500 ft up on the opposite wall of the canyon, with a flat cap that I'm sure I could land on...except that it's slightly sloped, do I don't know how that would play out.

I thought about having a larger drone on stand-by to go rescue my Mini-2, if it came to that.

But when I realized that I could set the max altitude to 1640 ft, it obviated the need for that stepping stone. That's enough altitude for me to top all of the ridges that are within my VLOS/Control Signal range.

 

[Chaosrider]

What's that?




It's called AGL.

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.

Which means, above the launch point of the ground you launched your drone from.

Here's a list of commonly used acronyms that may help with the industry standards.

No need to make up new ones.

Please add it to the list if needed.

Acronyms & Abbreviations

These are common abbreviations you'll find on MavicPilots.com. Feel free to update or append as necessary. Message clackey if you have any questions or concerns. AC = Aircraft ADIZ = Air Defense Identification Zone (place where you propably need filing flight plan) AGL = Above Ground Level...

mavicpilots.com

.

You missed my point a bit...

TLA = Three Letter Acronym!

I heard that one back in the old days when I was working around a lot of NASA stuff.

ATL is for the altitude that shows on the phone screen. The phone screen doesn't show AGL, although I wish it did. It shows altitude above the take-op point.

Thx!

 

[MS Coast]

It's called AGL.

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.

Which means, above the launch point of the ground you launched your drone from.

AGL, above ground level, is a standard term that's been part of aviation since soon after Wilbur and Orville departed from Kittyhawk for Ohio. It refers to the altitude of the aircraft above the ground directly below, not relative to a fixed location somewhere else. Let's keep this one as is.

 

[Chaosrider]

Personally for take off point altitude of a drone, I’ve always liked another members suggested acronym ATOP for ‘above take off point’.
It can have a useful purpose in certain cases.

Well, it's not a TLA, but that could be OK. I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen ATOP used before, if that's common.

Perhaps I have a different perspective flying in the mountains, because this value is *always* useful for me, since it's the only altitude value I can see in-flight! When I say Guardian Rock is about 600 ft up, I mean 600 ft ATL/ATOP, since that's the only measurement I have.

Perhaps, the relative rareness of references to this altitude might suggest that most of the posters in the forum are flatlanders!

;-)

Thx.

 

[Chaosrider]

AGL, above ground level, is a standard term that's been part of aviation since soon after Wilbur and Orville departed from Kittyhawk for Ohio. It refers to the altitude of the aircraft above the ground directly below, not relative to a fixed location somewhere else. Let's keep this one as is.

The confusion continues...

AGL is what you (and I) want, but AGL is not what shows up on the display screen.

ATL/ATOP is a handle for the altitude that shows up on the display screen. It's not presented as a replacement for AGL. It's a different measurement entirely.

Thx.

 

[Rich QR]

It's called AGL.

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.

Which means, above the launch point of the ground you launched your drone from.

AGL means Above Ground Level, as in, above the ground you're currently flying over, not referenced to some remote spot that could vary for each aircraft in the sky.

For example, drones are generally limited to flying at or below 400' AGL. Bigger planes are often (not always) required to stay above 500' AGL. These rules can sometimes provide a bit of separation between drones and human-carrying aircraft, but only if all aircraft flying over a particular spot measure their height from the same reference point.

The height displayed on a typical drone app is measured above takeoff point, not AGL. There's no official acronym in the FAR/AIM for height above takeoff point, since it is never used in the rules or procedures.

 

[MS Coast]

The confusion continues...

AGL is what you (and I) want, but AGL is not what shows up on the display screen.

ATL/ATOP is a handle for the altitude that shows up on the display screen. It's not presented as a replacement for AGL. It's a different measurement entirely.

Thx.

Confusion? I think you and I are on the same page about this.

I objected to the use of AGL for what's displayed on the Fly app screen.

 

[Flyin' High Again]

How does one launch and then want to climb up a mountain side that goes to 2000' in elevation when we are limited to 400' AGL?

depending on height of mountains, you cant. The AGL is measured from the height you took off from. Even if you stay 10' above terrain once you reach 400' you'll get a warning and once you reach 1500' (i believe) DJI programming will block any more elevation, even if your hugging the mountainside.There are mountains that I fly into repeatedly and this is my experience. I can drive 2hours to the mountain peak legally fly my drone to the bottom and return with no problem, I just cant start from the bottom. The only work around was to land every so often, and relaunch. Not a recommended option as home point is reset, not to mention landing and taking off from a point usually BLOV, and I have no real desire to climb a mountain looking for a lost drone should a mishap occur. Recently bought a software upgrade from Drone Hacks to overcome this, and it works like a charm. It's around $45 and to me was worth every penny.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen ATOP used before, if that's common.

Oh it’s not very widespread, went and had a look in past threads . . .

New acronym: ATOP = Above Take-Off Point

Since we often refer to altitude above take-off point, which is different from AGL and AMSL, I coined a new abbreviation, ATOP = Above Take-Off Point. Example of usage: "DJI limits Mavic to 500m ATOP, but doesn't mention this in the product sheet. Tsk, tsk, tsk, DJI!" :D Please add to AACU list...

mavicpilots.com

removing height limitation

I've google this and all the solutions seem to point to using an older version of the dji assistant app (1.1.2) and i think maybe an older version of the firmware as well. Is there any way to go above 400 ft using the latest mavic firmware and assistant 1.1.6? If i need to use 1.1.2 just to...

mavicpilots.com

MP exif data in JPEGs: Is altitude meters above sea level?

I was looking at the EXIF data from some of my JPEGS. Assuming the altitude data is correct what exactly is is showing? I am on the latest firmware and 4.15 of the Go 4 App. It appears to be showing the elevation above sea level for the LAT LONG coordinates and adding in the height of the MP...

mavicpilots.com

2017 era.

Point is for drone pilots what we see on our telemetry on all of the apps is ATOP or ATL, and obviously used as an accurate reference to assist in knowing where you drone is in relation to the HP.
AHP could also be interchangeable.

AGL is always going to be left for a guesstimate unless manufacturers build in more elaborate hardware.

Another type of acronym I’ve seen that’s not official is TOAL, I guess to save some keystrokes or ink as with acronyms in general.

 

[Chaosrider]

AGL means Above Ground Level, as in, above the ground you're currently flying over, not referenced to some remote spot that could vary for each aircraft in the sky.

For example, drones are generally limited to flying at or below 400' AGL. Bigger planes are often (not always) required to stay above 500' AGL. These rules can sometimes provide a bit of separation between drones and human-carrying aircraft, but only if all aircraft flying over a particular spot measure their height from the same reference point.

The height displayed on a typical drone app is measured above takeoff point, not AGL. There's no official acronym in the FAR/AIM for height above takeoff point, since it is never used in the rules or procedures.

And yet, that's the only altitude you get to see in flight with a drone! It would be nice to have a crisp TLA for that.

Hence, ATL!

 

[MA2 317]

This thread has spiraled in to an acronym discussion and not what the OP wanted to know, which is how to ascend up a mountain when limited to 400' AGL.

Let's stay on topic.

Just sayin'.

.

 

[Chaosrider]

Oh it’s not very widespread, went and had a look in past threads . . .

New acronym: ATOP = Above Take-Off Point

Since we often refer to altitude above take-off point, which is different from AGL and AMSL, I coined a new abbreviation, ATOP = Above Take-Off Point. Example of usage: "DJI limits Mavic to 500m ATOP, but doesn't mention this in the product sheet. Tsk, tsk, tsk, DJI!" :D Please add to AACU list...

mavicpilots.com

removing height limitation

I've google this and all the solutions seem to point to using an older version of the dji assistant app (1.1.2) and i think maybe an older version of the firmware as well. Is there any way to go above 400 ft using the latest mavic firmware and assistant 1.1.6? If i need to use 1.1.2 just to...

mavicpilots.com

MP exif data in JPEGs: Is altitude meters above sea level?

I was looking at the EXIF data from some of my JPEGS. Assuming the altitude data is correct what exactly is is showing? I am on the latest firmware and 4.15 of the Go 4 App. It appears to be showing the elevation above sea level for the LAT LONG coordinates and adding in the height of the MP...

mavicpilots.com

2017 era.

Point is for drone pilots what we see on our telemetry on all of the apps is ATOP or ATL, and obviously used as an accurate reference to assist in knowing where you drone is in relation to the HP.
AHP could also be interchangeable.

AGL is always going to be left for a guesstimate unless manufacturers build in more elaborate hardware.

Another type of acronym I’ve seen that’s not official is TOAL, I guess to save some keystrokes or ink as with acronyms in general.

I don't think any new hardware is necessary to get an AGL readout on the screen, as long as you're content to have that AGL readout have the same accuracy...or lack thereof...that the current ATL data provides. For my purposes, that would be just fine.

The drone knows where it is horizontally, it's GPS position. All that's needed to to get an AGL readout on the screen is to include a reference data base that gives the MSL elevation for each of the GPS data points. You wouldn't need the whole world stored, either. If you wanted to load that elevation ahead of time for where you're going to fly, you could do that just like you can now for map data.

With that database for comparison, it's just math. (Launch point MSL + inflight ATL) - (GPS location MSL elevation) = AGL.

You don't need bombing run accuracy for this purpose. The +/- 20 feet that I've seen in my actual flying is just fine. And that +/- 20 feet is the mean of distribution. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. Sometimes good enough is good enough, and this would be one of those times.