Dji mini 2 se won't land, then crashes

[msinger]

And note, there was not a lot a fog this day, I could see the drone fine, especially when it finally landed

That's what I see in your flight log data too. As you can see here, the downward sensors had no trouble detecting the ground at the end of the flight:



Prior to that (on the left above), the drone was high in the sky and the downward sensors were detecting an obstacle at about 0.5 feet beneath the drone.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I'm asking why the camera wasn't also fogged up. The OP didn't note he wasn't able to see the live video from the drone.

I don't recollect any threads where it was thought that fog etc. might have caused condensation etc. on the VPS sensors where fogging of the camera was ALSO mentioned.
However your question has made me wonder if the camera assembly gets warm enough to evaporate condensation on the outside of the lens/filter. Internally fogging mini 3/mini 4 cameras excepted.

I have seen rain droplets on the camera but when the drone has been caught in rain I have generally brought it home as quickly as possible and the dried it with tissue paper.

 

[msinger]

I don't recollect any threads where it was thought that fog etc. might have caused condensation etc. on the VPS sensors where fogging of the camera was ALSO mentioned

To clarify anything I've said above, I don't think the fog the OP saw caused condensation/fog/etc. to form on the exterior (or interior) of the downward sensors. I think the drone was flying through fog during periods of the flight and the downward sensors were detecting that as an obstacle. To protect itself from crashing, the drone automatically ascended (as designed) when it detected those nearby obstacles.

 

[DJI man]

To clarify anything I've said above, I don't think the fog the OP saw caused condensation/fog/etc. to form on the exterior (or interior) of the downward sensors. I think the drone was flying through fog during periods of the flight and the downward sensors were detecting that as an obstacle. To protect itself from crashing, the drone automatically ascended (as designed) when it detected those nearby obstacles.

I'm probably missing something here, but as I understand the mini 2 SE doesn't have obstacle avoidance system. Why would it then ascend? I can understand why it didn't land if it detected fog, but not ascending.

 

[msinger]

I'm probably missing something here, but as I understand the mini 2 SE doesn't have obstacle avoidance system. Why would it then ascend?

You're correct. It has no downward obstacle avoidance.

All DJI drones with downward sensors attempt to avoid an accidental impact with the ground below. That's why it's so hard (nearly impossible?) to accidentally fly into the ground when flying low and the elevation changes gradually.

I can understand why it didn't land if it detected fog

It was prompting you to land while it was high in the sky. For example:

 

[DJI man]

Latest update. Thanks anyway for helping out.

 

[msinger]

"since the external components were added under the aircraft"

Right, that could cause a situation like this too. However, the data clearly shows that was not the case here.

 

[DJI man]

"since the external components were added under the aircraft"

Right, that could cause a situation like this too. However, the data clearly shows that was not the case here.

Could be it be they mean that the fog is the "external components", or doesn't that make sense?

 

[msinger]

Could be it be they mean that the fog is the "external components"

It was the "external component" in your case. I think they are suggesting you had a 3rd party accessory (like landing gear) attached to the bottom of your drone.

 

[Meta4]

Could be it be they mean that the fog is the "external components", or doesn't that make sense?

DJI have misread the data.
During much of the flight the VPS sensors indicated that there was something close below the drone.
That could be either an accessory that blocks the sensor's view, or as in your case it could have been fog below the drone.
That your data clearly shows the VPS sensors were working normally as the drone approached the ground, shows that the VPS sensors weren't blocked by a poorly fitted accessory.
That's the part that DJI's analysis has missed.