Abstract

UAV-based photogrammetry has many applications today. Measuring of snow depth using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) techniques is one of them. Determining the depth of snow is very important for a wide range of scientific research activities. In the alpine environment, this information is crucial, especially in the sphere of risk management (snow avalanches). The main aim of this study is to test the applicability of fixed-wing UAV with RTK technology in real alpine conditions to determine snow depth. The territory in West Tatras as a part of Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians) in the northern part of Slovakia was analyzed. The study area covers more than 1.2 km2 with an elevation of almost 900 m and it is characterized by frequent occurrence of snow avalanches. It was found that the use of different filtering modes (at the level point cloud generation) had no distinct (statistically significant) effect on the result. On the other hand, the significant influence of vegetation characteristics was confirmed. Determination of snow depth based on seasonal digital surface model subtraction can be affected by the process of vegetation compression. The results also point on the importance of RTK methods when mapping areas where it is not possible to place ground control points.

Highlights

  • Seasonal snow depth distribution represents a key piece of information for many applications, e.g., in hydrology, ecology, or in risk management [1,2,3] with significant environmental and economic impacts [4,5,6,7,8]

  • There are methods based on sparse in situ measurements with various probes or geophysics measurement techniques [10,11] and methods based on remote sensing

  • All of them w successfully alignedDuring by software processing

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Summary

Introduction

Seasonal snow depth distribution represents a key piece of information for many applications, e.g., in hydrology, ecology, or in risk management [1,2,3] with significant environmental and economic impacts [4,5,6,7,8]. Knowing the best way of snow depth mapping is crucial especially in mountain areas with risk of snow avalanches. There are methods based on sparse in situ measurements with various probes or geophysics measurement techniques [10,11] and methods based on remote sensing. Remote sensing methods represent unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) mapping [12,13], conventional airborne mapping and airborne laser-scanning [14,15,16], terrestrial laser-scanning [17,18,19], or usage of satellite imagery [20,21,22].

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