Which Export to Choose

Dronetag exports flights and detections in a few file formats. The formats are the same wherever you export from, for example the Dronetag App, the Dronetag Export service or your own software through the Dronetag API. This section describes the files. What you can choose in each place is described on that place's own page, such as Exporting Data in the Dronetag App.

This page helps you pick a format.

A flight is reported by a Dronetag device on your own drone. A detection is a drone that one or more of your receivers heard, for example a Dronetag Scout. Flights and detections use the same file formats. A detection fills in a few extra fields, such as which receiver heard it.

Pick a Format

I want to	Choose	Read more
Replay a flight in 3D	KMZ	KMZ for Google Earth
Give someone a printable report	PDF	One report per flight or detection
Work with every position in Excel	CSV, With tracks	CSV Telemetry
List many flights in Excel, one row each	CSV, Summary	CSV Summary
Feed my own software	JSON	JSON

KML is the same map as KMZ, but without the icons and the colour legend. Google Earth shows its own default pins instead. Choose KML only if a tool can't open KMZ.

With Tracks or Summary

JSON and CSV come in two versions. You pick one when you export.

• With tracks has every recorded position. This is the default.
• Summary has one entry per flight or detection, without the positions.

The figures in a Summary are still calculated from the whole track. Choose Summary when you export many flights. For 80 flights, a Summary is a few hundred kilobytes and With tracks is tens of megabytes.

Units and Times

JSON and CSV always use metres, metres per second, degrees and seconds. Their times are in UTC.

KMZ and PDF use metric units, or imperial ones where the place you export from lets you choose. Their times are also in UTC, marked "(UTC)".

File Names

You exported	File name
80 flights from 1 to 7 May 2026	dronetag-flights-80_20260501-20260507-telemetry.csv
One flight	dronetag-flight_1596CEXAMPLE00001_20260917-0742Z-telemetry.csv

Detections say operations or operation instead of flights or flight. A Summary ends in -summary instead of -telemetry. A zip has the same name with the extension .zip. Dates and times in file names are in UTC.

Format Versions

JSON, CSV Telemetry and CSV Summary are all version 1.0, and each has its own version. When something is only added, the second number goes up. When something is removed, renamed or changes meaning, the first number goes up. If your software reads JSON, read schema_version and check the first number before you read the rest.

When You Get a Zip File

A CSV can arrive in a zip together with a file called ATTRIBUTION.txt. This happens when heights in the CSV were calculated from terrain data that must be credited. Keep the two files together when you pass the data on. See Terrain Data and Attribution.

Some places also put several formats, or a large selection split into parts, into one zip.

Files Safe to Share Publicly

Some places can make a file that is safe to share publicly. The file then leaves out the pilot's name and ID, the pilot's positions and the take-off point. It also leaves out the callsign, the Self-ID text, the return-to-home point and the receivers that heard a detection.

Serial numbers keep their first four and last four characters. Registration numbers and operator IDs are hidden completely. The drone's own track stays in the file.

Example Files

The examples on these pages come from these files. They are synthetic. Every name, serial number, receiver and registration in them is invented.

File	What it shows
telemetry-1-flight.json	JSON With tracks, one flight
telemetry-1-detection.json	JSON With tracks, one detection with its pilot positions
summary-3-flights.json	JSON Summary, three flights
summary-3-detections.json	JSON Summary, three detections
telemetry-1-flight.csv	CSV Telemetry, one flight
telemetry-1-detection.csv	CSV Telemetry, one detection
summary-3-flights.csv	CSV Summary, three flights
summary-3-detections.csv	CSV Summary, three detections
ATTRIBUTION.txt	The terrain credits that come in a zip with a CSV

In a real download the file names follow the pattern under File Names, and each of these CSVs would arrive in a zip with its ATTRIBUTION.txt.