6X Series Sensors Data Import Introduction
6X uses standard metadata tagging formats and labels, such as EXIF and XMP. They are compatible with standard GIS and image processing tools, such as Pix4D.
The images are geo-tagged, not geo-tiffs, and as such, do not natively import into ArcGIS or other similar tools. Additional processing through Pix4D, Agrisoft Metashape, ODM, custom scripts or FieldAgent, is required.
6X implements a custom processing pipeline that is designed to maintain high linearity between a recorded digital number (DN) and irradiance. This characteristic is critical for utilization and analysis of multispectral data.
All image layers are captured simultaneously. The TIFF image layers are co-registered by the 6X onboard and in real-time. Registration, vignetting correction, and RGB color correction, can all be turned off, if desired.
Each session folder created by the 6X will contain 6 subfolders. One for each imager on the sensor.
6X Series Sensors - Thermal Temperature Conversion
.Tif files from the 6X thermal are recorded in Kelvin*100. As a result, images must be converted to be viewed in Celsius.
To convert thermal pixel values to degrees Celsius:
Raw 6X images off the 6X Thermal will appear solid grey when viewed on most basic image viewers (ex. Windows Photo Viewer). The color scale on a basic photo viewer is set to the range of all possible temperatures that the 6X thermal sensor can record; Black being the coldest and white being the hottest. Relative to the range of possible temperatures, the range of temperatures recorded in a typical 6X image is relatively small. This relatively small range is somewhere in-between the coldest (black) and hotest (white) extremes, causing the image to appear as a nearly constant grey.
Most advanced imagery software will automatically adjust the displayed color range to match the range of temperatures recorded in an image. As a result, raw images viewed using most GIS tools will highlight the temperature differences you'd expect to see in a thermal image.
The image shown below is the same "grey" image seen above, but as it appears in Irfanview. QGIS and other GIS tools will similarly convey the temperature differences in raw imagery.
FieldAgent
Pix4D
Metashape
