Ok, so first time over water today.

I noticed that every time I flew over the river (overcast sky, maybe the reflections were too bright?), it would bob up or down and not hold altitude.

In the following video I also saw how the Spark suddenly veered right when flying over the river. My theory is that the flowing water caused it to drift aggressively to the right (at the end of the video).

I am not saying that this is "DJI's fault" but am rather trying to find the best practice-procedures for flying over water and getting stable footage.
Is there a way to "switch off" the VPS and use the barometer/GPS/IMU combo instead at lower altitudes? This way I could rely on the drone to not make direction changes based on the surface beneath it.

I haven't had that issue, I have flown over water a lot but usually higher altitudes. I don't disable the VPS.

cwe0002 Posted at 2017-7-22 04:02
I haven't had that issue, I have flown over water a lot but usually higher altitudes. I don't disable the VPS.

so what could be leading to this aggressive sudden drifting? It seems like it wants to match its speed and direction to the flow of the water at the end

It could make sense that the "perception" of the sensors is influenced by the flow of the water, especially if this is "visible" to the sensor.

I have also read somewhere (DJI documentation) that flying over a surface with no "texture" in it could cause erratic flight...
Now, what about the wind on that day and that location? Because in my humble experience, the Spark is quite sensible to wind direction as it is a relatively "light" device.

Didiko Posted at 2017-7-22 04:08
It could make sense that the "perception" of the sensors is influenced by the flow of the water, especially if this is "visible" to the sensor.

I have also read somewhere (DJI documentation) that flying over a surface with no "texture" in it could cause erratic flight...

there was no wind at all. Not even a light breeze!

refer to page 12 https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... ser+Manual+V1.2.pdf

you can switch of VPS it will stop jumping up and down, many do it when flying under 26 ft.

When I was hovering over the 4th of July parade. I had this same thing happen. Certain floats would cause the spark to drift backwards due to the ground tracking being fooled by the ground "moving" under it.

Most of my use of the spark is over water and I haven't noticed any issue

As to being sensitive to wind, I disagree. Most of my flights have been in winds of 15 kts and in the turbulence of islands and small hills and the spark is very stable. Actually I dont think I have flown it without getting multiple high wind velocity warnings.  When taking off or returning to the boat, there is quite a bit of turbulence as the boat disrupt the wind an de the spark is absolutely rock steady. Probably more than the Mavic

i haven't flown mine over water yet, i'm too scared because im new mostly and i dont wanna risk my drone having another fit and me doing the wrong thing.  however i had similar issue it drifts around if cars going under it  if you go really high up it is a lot less impacted.. also dont fly spark at night.. LOL tried it as light was failing luckily had a successful run but it moves a bout like it can hover in exact spot.