Free tool
As-Applied Maps for Drone Applicators
Drone application leaves a gap in a grower's field record. This closes it: flight data in, maps for John Deere Operations Center out, in about two minutes. We built it for our own spray jobs, then opened it free to every applicator, whatever they fly.
asapplied.acrewatch.com
Free for every drone applicator. No AcreWatch account required.
Three ways in
Whatever your drone gives you
Bring the best data you have. The tool tells you plainly which kind of map that data can honestly produce, rather than calling everything as-applied.
From DJI flight data
You bring: Your DJI Agras task report (.xlsx, exported from DJI SmartFarm) and the per-flight KMLs that come with it.
You get: Coverage shaped by what the drone actually sprayed, with each flight carrying its own measured rate from the drone's log. The closest to a true as-applied map DJI's exports allow.
From flight tracks
You bring: The flown path as KML or KMZ from any ground station: XAG, Hylio, EA Vision, Talos, CeresAir, Revolution, or anything else that exports one.
You get: A true as-covered map. The shape is what was actually flown, skips and all, buffered by your swath width, with the rate you report attached.
From a field boundary
You bring: The field boundary as KML or KMZ, plus the product, rate, swath width, and direction of travel.
You get: A reported-application record: the boundary painted at one uniform rate, with no flight data behind it. For blanket applications only.
What comes out
Records your grower can actually use
Deere will only display these maps if they arrive through Operations Center, so that is where the tool sends them, with a copy in your hand either way.
Out of every run
- One-click send straight into John Deere Operations Center, which is the only way Deere will display these maps
- A downloadable bundle of ISOXML work data and shapefiles for your own records and other platforms
- Tank mix written through to the Deere layer details, the shapefile attributes, and the ISOXML work record
- Every map states which of the three kinds it is, so the record stays defensible
Cleaned up on the way
- Add a field boundary and overspray outside it is trimmed, gaps between passes inside it are filled
- Obstacles and no-spray zones are cut out, and acres and total product exclude them
- Travel legs and refill runs are dropped, so only the spray passes are counted
- Flights over the same field merge into one map, each keeping its own shape and rate
Nothing you upload is saved
Files are processed in memory, never written to disk, and are deleted automatically 30 minutes after upload, or immediately when you click Delete my files. Your flight logs are your business, including when you fly against us.
Why we built it
A spray record should not depend on who flew it
A ground rig or an ag plane leaves a grower with a real record of the pass. Drone application too often leaves a text message and a total acreage figure, which is not something anyone can plan next season against.
For the grower
- Drone application shows up in Ops Center with everything else on the farm
- Rate, product, tank mix, and date on the record, not left on a pilot's tablet
- One place to check what was treated and when, come replant or a claim
For the applicator
- Hand growers the same class of record a ground rig or a plane leaves behind
- Works with the drone you already fly, whatever the brand
- Free to use, whether or not you ever fly a job with AcreWatch
We gave it away on purpose. Every grower who gets a clean record from a drone application, whoever flew it, is a grower more willing to hire the next one. That is worth more to this industry than a subscription fee.
Questions applicators ask
- What is an as-applied map?
- It is the record of an application after the fact: where product actually went and at what rate, as opposed to the prescription or flight plan it was flown from. Growers use it to confirm what was treated, to line applications up with yield and scouting data, and to back up a claim or a replant decision later.
- What is the difference between as-applied and as-covered?
- As-applied is about product: what went out, where, and at what rate. As-covered is about ground: the area the swath actually covered, pass by pass, including the skips and the edges. The tool is explicit about which one it just built for you. DJI flight data gives you rate per flight, so it is as close to as-applied as DJI's exports allow; a flight track from any other brand carries no flow data, so it gives true as-covered with the rate you report; a field boundary with no flight data behind it gives a reported-application record and is labelled as one.
- What do I need to upload?
- Whichever you have. A DJI Agras task report and its flight KMLs give the most accurate result. Any other brand that exports its flown path as KML or KMZ works too: XAG, Hylio, EA Vision, Talos, CeresAir, Revolution, and others. With no logs at all, a field boundary and the application details will still produce a record. A run takes about two minutes.
- What comes out the other end?
- A one-click send straight into John Deere Operations Center, which is the only way Deere will display these maps, plus a downloadable bundle of ISOXML work data and shapefiles for your own records or another platform. You see a preview of every field before anything is exported.
- Does it keep my flight data?
- No. Files are processed in memory, never written to disk, and are deleted automatically 30 minutes after upload, or immediately when you click Delete my files. That holds whether or not you are an AcreWatch customer.
- What does it cost, and do I have to be an AcreWatch customer?
- It is free, and no. Any drone applicator can use it, including ones who compete with us. Accurate records make the whole industry easier for growers to trust, and that is worth more to us than a subscription fee.
- Does it handle seeding and dry spreading, or only spray?
- All three. Liquid rates go in as gallons per acre and dry rates as pounds per acre, so spraying, seeding, and granular spreading all come out as proper records.
- Why John Deere?
- Because that is where most of the farms we work with already keep their field records. An application record only earns its keep if it sits alongside the planting, the soil tests, and the yield data rather than in a separate folder nobody opens.