FTF: a quick surveying approach for constructing high resolution digital surface model for road elements

Abstract

Digital Surface Models (DSMs) are commonly built using data collected via remote sensing techniques such as aerial photogrammetry, LiDAR, and InSAR. DSM accuracy mainly depends upon the type of data used beside the methodology followed. The highest accuracy can be achieved when using a land surveying data which takes more time and costs a lot. The objective of this study is to present a quick approach for constructing high resolution DSM for road elements based on land surveying data. This approach is called Field-To-Finish (FTF), it is a process of converting surveying data into final graphical files based on the characteristics of the points and the accompanying code. To illustrate the proposed approach and assess the accuracy comparing with the traditional method, a case study was presented. We found that the FTF is superior to the traditional method on more than one level. The number of observed points, the time for surveying field work and for drafting were reduced. The methodology adopted in this study for obtaining DSM has proven to produce a digital model which is suitable for production engineering charts of scale 1: 100 that can be used in many scientific and practical applications related to civil infrastructure.