Abstract
The mapping of peatland microtopography (e.g., hummocks and hollows) is key for understanding and modeling complex hydrological and biochemical processes. Here we compare unmanned aerial system (UAS) derived structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and LiDAR point clouds and digital surface models of an ombrotrophic bog, and we assess the utility of these technologies in terms of payload, efficiency, and end product quality (e.g., point density, microform representation, etc.). In addition, given their generally poor accessibility and fragility, peatlands provide an ideal model to test the usability of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) visualizations. As an integrated system, the LiDAR implementation was found to be more straightforward, with fewer points of potential failure (e.g., hardware interactions). It was also more efficient for data collection (10 vs. 18 min for 1.17 ha) and produced considerably smaller file sizes (e.g., 51 MB vs. 1 GB). However, SfM provided higher spatial detail of the microforms due to its greater point density (570.4 vs. 19.4 pts/m2). Our VR/AR assessment revealed that the most immersive user experience was achieved from the Oculus Quest 2 compared to Google Cardboard VR viewers or mobile AR, showcasing the potential of VR for natural sciences in different environments. We expect VR implementations in environmental sciences to become more popular, as evaluations such as the one shown in our study are carried out for different ecosystems.
Highlights
Peatlands cover a significant area globally (≈3%), and in particular of northern regions (e.g., ≈12% of Canada), and they have an increasingly important role in carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation [1,2,3,4]
Our study aims to bridge the implementation of 3D models derived from Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) (LiDAR and SfM) and virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) visualization
While we primarily focus on VR due to the maturity of the technology and its suitability for scientific data visualization, we briefly compare the point clouds in AR
Summary
Peatlands cover a significant area globally (≈3%), and in particular of northern regions (e.g., ≈12% of Canada), and they have an increasingly important role in carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation [1,2,3,4]. Ongoing monitoring of peatlands over large spatial extents through the use of satellite-based Earth observation products is needed to understand their response to climate change (e.g., [5,6,7]). Given their generally poor accessibility and the fine-scale topographic variation of vegetation microforms (often
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