University of Worcester Worcester Research and Publications
 
  USER PANEL:
  ABOUT THE COLLECTION:
  CONTACT DETAILS:

From Manned to Unmanned Aircraft: Adapting Airborne Particle Size Mapping Methodologies to the Characteristics of sUAS and SfM

Woodget, Amy, Fyffe, C. and Carbonneau, P. (2018) From Manned to Unmanned Aircraft: Adapting Airborne Particle Size Mapping Methodologies to the Characteristics of sUAS and SfM. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 43 (4). pp. 857-870. ISSN 0197-9337 Online: 1096-9837

[img]
Preview
Text
Woodget et al 2017 River Wear Submitted.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

Subaerial particle size data holds a wealth of valuable information for fluvial, coastal, glacial and other sedimentological applications. Recently, we have gained the opportunity to map and quantify particle sizes at the mesoscale using data derived from small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) imagery processed using structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry. These sUAS-SfM approaches have been based typically on calibrating orthoimage texture or point cloud roughness with particle size. Variable levels of success are reported and a single, robust method capable of producing consistently accurate and precise results in a range of settings has remained elusive. In this paper, we develop an original method for particle size mapping with the specific constraints of sUAS and SfM in mind. This method uses the texture of single sUAS images, rather than orthoimages, calibrated with particle sizes normalised by individual image scale. We compare results against existing orthoimage texture and roughness approaches, and provide the first quantitative investigation into the implications of the use of sUAS camera gimbals. Our results indicate that our novel single image method delivers the optimal particle size mapping performance for our study site, outperforming both other methods and delivering residual mean errors of 0.02mm (accuracy), standard deviation of residual errors of 6.90mm (precision) and maximum residual errors of 16.50mm. Accuracy values are more than two orders of magnitude worse when a camera gimbal is not used, thereby demonstrating the critical importance of mechanical image stabilisation for particle size mapping using measures of image texture.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information:

Staff and students at the University of Worcester can access the full-text of the online published article via the UW online library search. External users should check availability with their local library or Interlibrary Requests Service.

Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords: particle size data, airborne particle sampling, manned and unmanned aircraft
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GA Mathematical geography. Cartography
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography
T Technology > T Technology (General)
T Technology > TR Photography
Divisions: College of Health, Life and Environmental Sciences > School of Science and the Environment
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Amy Woodget
Date Deposited: 13 Nov 2017 14:47
Last Modified: 08 Sep 2020 11:03
URI: https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/6108

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
 
     
Worcester Research and Publications is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.