3D laser scanning and GPS technology for landslide earthwork volume estimation

Abstract

This paper describes a case study investigating the use of 3D laser scanning and global position system (GPS) to acquire landslide data and to compute earthwork volume. 3D laser scanning, which is just samples the earth's surface in some fixed pattern, is not capable of pointing to particular objects or object features directly in exact global orientation. To obtain global geographic coordinates, a GPS is introduced for use. This study including a brief description of the technology, the measurement method, the operation, and the results of the case study is presented. Compared to conventional methods such as triangulation, field and office time of operation was reduced using laser scanning and GPS. Applications where safety may be an issue, such as providing accurate measurements on a landslide or debris flow area, will benefit the most from the strengths of this technology.