Abstract
Abstract. Photogrammetric acquisition with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has grown extensively over the last couple of years. Such mobile platforms and their processing software have matured, resulting in a market which offers off-the-shelf mapping solutions to surveying companies and geospatial enterprises. Different approaches in platform type and optical instruments exist, though its resulting products have similar specifications. To demonstrate differences in acquisitioning practice, a case study over an open mine was flown with two different off-the-shelf UAVs (a fixed-wing and a multi-rotor). The resulting imagery is analyzed to clarify the differences in collection quality. We look at image settings, and stress the fact of photographic experience if manual setting are applied. For mapping production it might be safest to set the camera on automatic. Furthermore, we try to estimate if blur is present due to image motion. A subtle trend seems to be present, for the fast flying platform though its extent is of similar order to the slow moving one. It shows both systems operate at their limits. Finally, the lens distortion is assessed with special attention to chromatic aberration. Here we see that through calibration such aberrations could be present, however detecting this phenomena directly on imagery is not straightforward. For such effects a normal lens is sufficient, though a better lens and collimator does give significant improvement.
Highlights
Surveying of large scale topography has long been labor intensive and logistically complex. Last decade it has eased through the refinement of satellite positioning. For this decade the combination of structure-from-motion and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) technology has the potential to push this automation within the surveying profession one step further
Most of the initial faults and inherent problems have been reduced, like technical and legal aspects, an investment in a UAV mapping system still needs careful decision making as it is a large financial investment for small mapping enterprises
For intensity we look at the image quality, doi:10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-17-2014
Summary
Surveying of large scale topography has long been labor intensive and logistically complex. Last decade it has eased through the refinement of satellite positioning. For this decade the combination of structure-from-motion and UAV technology has the potential to push this automation within the surveying profession one step further. This study is an evaluation for different acquisition methods and acquisitioning instruments. We try to identify the differences in mapping strategies, different optics is used and its performance is analyzed. This might be of benefit to potential users, and a handhold for future investment and working practice
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