Why Can't I Upload PPK Data? Common Errors and How To Resolve Them

To ensure the highest quality for your 3D site models, Propeller has integrated a series of data validation checks. This guide will help you understand and resolve any errors you may encounter during the upload process.

Validation Status

Green: Your data has passed all validation checks and is ready for processing.

Orange: This indicates a warning. While you can proceed with the upload, the detected issues may impact the accuracy of your final model. You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to continue.

Red: This signifies a critical error. The data cannot be uploaded until the issue is resolved. Please refer to the error details below or contact your Customer Success Manager for further assistance.

Common Upload Errors and Solutions

Here is a comprehensive list of potential errors, their remedies, and helpful resources, categorized by the source of the issue.

Your file collection

Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Minimum 10 images	Your survey must contain at least 10 images to ensure sufficient data for an accurate model.	Getting Started with Composite Surveys
Same aspect ratio (n files)	All photos must have the same aspect ratio. Remove any images that do not match the majority.	What Is Image Aspect Ratio?
Camera course alignment	For optimal photogrammetry results, your drone's camera should consistently face the same direction relative to its flight path.	Phantom 4 RTK Shooting Angle: Course Aligned
Single connected area	Gaps or holes in your survey imagery can degrade the accuracy of the entire model. To resolve this, either upload additional images to fill the gaps or remove the outlying images that are causing the separation.	Getting Started with Composite Surveys
Unable to read EXIF or metadata from some of your files. (n files)	This error suggests that some of your image files may be corrupted. Please inspect the indicated files and remove any that are problematic.	How to Batch Geotag Photos with ExifTool

Your sensor

Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Drone sensor is not PPK enabled	This drone sensor is not fully integrated with Propeller’s PPK workflow, please use a different processing method.	Uploading a Standard Survey Dataset (Non-PPK) Uploading High Accuracy Geotagged Photo Datasets
Drone sensor is not compatible	This drone sensor falls below our minimum spec requirements or is incompatible with Propeller’s platform (e.g. not geotagged images, <8MP resolution cameras, thermal, FPV drones). Check compatibility in the linked support resource.	Propeller’s drones and sensors
Unable to detect your drone	Your PPK drone is not registered with our system. Please renew your PPK subscription to continue. Your PPK subscription has expired. Please click here to renew your subscription. Ensure all necessary files have been uploaded, or consider changing your correction method.	How to Register a Drone with Propeller to Use with the PPK Workflow Annual PPK Processing Subscription
Registered PPK drone detected	This drone is registered for Propeller PPK processing. If you intend to use this feature, please add the required PPK files (.bin, .mrk). If not, please change the correction method.	Uploading Survey Data
Registered PPK drone and PPK files detected	You have uploaded PPK files but have not selected Propeller PPK processing. For the most accurate and fastest results, we recommend switching your correction method to Propeller PPK.	Uploading Survey Data

Individual images

Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Image resolution does not match the camera's native resolution	Cropping your photos can interfere with camera calibration and the image stitching process. Please set the aspect ratio to your drone's native setting.	What Is Image Aspect Ratio?
Motion blur	Blurry images reduce the effectiveness of image stitching, leading to lower accuracy in the final model. To avoid this, set your camera to shutter priority mode with a speed of approximately 1/1000.	Shutter Priority Mode
High ISO (n files)	A high ISO setting can introduce noise into your images, which in turn reduces the accuracy of the final model.	What is ISO and How Does it Influence the Images in My Drone Survey?
Name less than 255 characters	The file name of your image is too long. Please shorten it to less than 255 characters.
High accuracy geotags are not detected	You have indicated that the images have high-accuracy geotags, but this metadata is not being detected. Please confirm that the images were captured in RTK mode or have been post-processed (PPK).	Uploading High Accuracy Geotagged Photo Datasets
Image must be at least 8 megapixels	Remove any images with a resolution below 8 megapixels.
Image file size must be greater than 75kB (1 file)	At least one of your images is too small. Please remove any files under 75KB.

Your file collection
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Minimum 10 images
Same aspect ratio (n files)	Your photos should all be captured with the same aspect ratio. Remove the images that have a different aspect ratio	What Is Image Aspect Ratio?
Camera course alignment	The best results in photogrammetry are realized when the camera faces the same direction relative to the flight path. Set your drone shooting angle to course aligned.	Phantom 4 RTK Shooting Angle: Course Aligned
Single connected area	There are holes in your survey imagery. Separate areas degrade each others' accuracy. Submit more images to fill the holes, or remove the images that will degrade accuracy.	Getting Started with Composite Surveys
We were unable to read the EXIF or metadata from some of your files. (n files)	Please check your files are not corrupted and remove problematic files.
Your drone
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Drone camera is not recommended	<CAMERA_MODEL> is not a recommended camera model. You can still proceed with the upload. However, the processing results might be degraded. Certain cameras were tested to produce photogrammetric models reliably	Recommended Camera Models
Unable to detect your drone	Your PPK drone is not registered. Please renew your PPK subscription to proceed.	How to Register a Drone with Propeller to Use with the PPK Workflow
Unable to detect your drone	Your PPK subscription has expired. Click here to renew.	Annual PPK Processing Subscription
Unable to detect your drone	Ensure you have uploaded all your files or change the correction method.
Registered PPK Drone detected	This drone is registered for Propeller PPK processing. If you intend to use Propeller PPK with this submission, please add the required PPK files (.bin, .mrk) or change the correction method. If you intend to use Propeller PPK corrections, change the correction method.	Uploading a PPK Survey with Your Compatible DJI Drones Uploading a PPK Survey From a WingtraOne Uploading a PPK Survey With a Quantum Trinity F90+ Drone Uploading a PPK Survey From an Autel EVO II RTK Uploading a PPK Survey From an Anzu Raptor
Registered PPK Drone and PPK files detected	You have attached PPK files but opted out of Propeller PPK processing. Consider switching to Propeller PPK corrections for the fastest and most accurate results. Change the correction method and make sure you have uploaded all the files.
Individual images
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Compatible geotag (n files)
Image resolution <x>x<y> does not match the camera's native resolution <x>x<y> (n file)	Cropping the top and bottom of each photo means there is less material to stitch together and affects the camera calibration. Set the aspect ratio to <CAMERA_RATIO> (your drone's native aspect ratio).	What Is Image Aspect Ratio?
Motion blur	Some of your images appear to be blurry. This reduces the effectiveness of stitching images, leading to low accuracy in the final model. Set camera mode to shutter priority and the shutter speed to ~1/1000.	Shutter Priority Mode Shutter Priority Mode on the Matrice 300/350 RTK Drone What is Shutter Priority Mode on the Phantom 4 RTK?
High ISO (n files)	High ISO leads to high image noise, which leads to low accuracy in the final model.	What is ISO and How Does it Influence the Images in My Drone Survey?
	Name less than 255 characters.
High accuracy geotags are not detected	You switched the high accuracy geotags toggle on, but we could not detect the high accuracy metadata in all images. Please confirm that the images provided are captured in RTK mode or have been post processed (PPK) by checking the box below.	Uploading High Accuracy Geotagged Photo Datasets
Image must be at least 8 megapixels	Please remove the images that have resolutions less than 8 megapixels.
Image file size must be greater than 75kB (1 file)	Some of your images are too small (under 75KB). Remove the small files.
PPK files
Any drone
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Flight does not contain any images	Make sure that the images (.JPG ) are added.
Flight is invalid due to <n>% of images having 0,0 GPS coordinates	Make sure the images have valid coordinates. Images with invalid coordinates usually result from a slow SD card or outdated drone firmware.	Must refly the mission. Make sure to use the recommended SD card and the firmware is updated.
Flight is missing GNSS observation file	Make sure to include a GNSS observation file per flight.
Flight is missing metadata file	Make sure to include an image timestamp file per flight.
Flight or surrounding flight has <n> missing images	Make sure that there are as many timestamp entries as there are images.
GNSS data time range <GnssStart> -> <GnssEnd> does not cover image timestamps <TimestampStart> -> <TimestampEnd>	Make sure the correct GNSS files are uploaded with the images per flight and that the GNSS observation file contains data for the full duration of the flight. Remove the images not covered by the GNSS data (only possible if the affected images do not exceed 10% of the flight and are at the start or end of the flight). Please note that parts of the flight covered by the removed images will be missing. Otherwise, you can process the images with standard accuracy (without PPK).	Refly the mission. Ensure your drone is running the latest firmware and you are using a recommended SD card with a high enough write speed. Alternatively, you can process your dataset with standard accuracy instead or refly.
File does not contain any metadata entries	Please make sure the timestamp files are not corrupted. Corrupt files usually result from a slow SD card or outdated drone firmware.	Make sure to use the recommended SD card.
File contains duplicate metadata entries: {duplicates}	Remove duplicate entries in the timestamp file.
Timestamps are out of order. Timestamp {entryLabel} is earlier than previous entry	Make sure the image file naming convention is consistent with the image capture order.
Entry is missing image reference	Make sure that the timestamp entry properly references an image.
Entry is missing timestamp	Remove the images with no corresponding timestamp entries (only possible if the affected images do not exceed 10% of the flight and are at the start or end of the flight). Please note that parts of the flight covered by the removed images will be missing. Otherwise, you can process the images with standard accuracy (without PPK).	You have the option to process with standard accuracy instead or refly, making sure that your drone is running the latest firmware and you are using a recommended SD card with a fast enough write speed.
Entry is missing antenna offset Entry antenna offset is invalid (all 0s)	Remove invalid entries with no antenna offset in the timestamp file and the corresponding images (only possible if the affected images do not exceed 10% of the flight and are at the start or end of the flight). Please note that parts of the flight covered by the removed images will be missing. Otherwise, you can process the images with standard accuracy (without PPK).	You can process with standard accuracy instead or refly, ensuring that your drone is running the latest firmware and you are using a recommended SD card with a fast enough write speed.
Entry has invalid approximate position	Remove invalid entries with no approximate positions in the timestamp file and the corresponding images (only possible if the affected images do not exceed 10% of the flight and are at the start or end of the flight). Please note that parts of the flight covered by the removed images will be missing. Otherwise, you can process the images with standard accuracy (without PPK).	You can process with standard accuracy instead or refly, ensuring that your drone is running the latest firmware and you are using a recommended SD card with a fast enough write speed.
Wingtra RGB61
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Too many images have a high ISO (> 6400)	Ensure that the images have low ISO
All Wingtra drones
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Gap detected between images <img_name> and <img_name>. Please check that there are no missing images.	Ensure that there are no missing images
Unable to parse the image number from <n> image(s). Please check the file names.	Ensure that all images follow the image naming convention
Images that do not belong to any of the uploaded SBF files detected. Please check your files.	Ensure that all images follow the image naming convention and that there are no files from other projects included in the upload
Quantum
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
File does not contain drone serial number	Ensures that .prop (Quantum metadata file) contains the drone serial number
Control step
Error message	Remedy	Tips & support resources
Short flight detected; reduced survey accuracy possible	You have uploaded flight data where all your flight(s) are below recommended flight times. This data can negatively impact the accuracy of your survey. As a reminder, Propeller PPK flights should be at least 2 min. in duration to generate survey data for optimal accuracy. To proceed, please either replace the data from the short flight(s), or continue with existing data with the understanding that lower survey accuracy is more likely.	How to Use AeroPoints For the PPK Workflow
Insufficient ground control for quality assurance	At least 3 ground control points are required for our Geospatial Specialists to provide quality assurance. We recommend a minimum of 5 ground control points for accurate results.	Ground Control Placement and Distribution

I still can't do it!

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