INVESTIGATIONS ON THE POSSIBILITIES OF MONITORING COASTAL CHANGES INCLUDING SHALLOW UNDER WATER AREAS WITH UAS PHOTO BATHMETRY

Abstract

Abstract. UAS become a very valuable tool for coastal morphology. Not only for mapping but also for change detection and a better understanding of processes along and across the shore. This contribution investigates the possibilities of UAS to determine the water depth in clear shallow waters by means of the so called "photo bathymetry". From the results of several test flights it became clear that three factors influence the ability and the accuracy of bathymetric sea floor measurements. Firstly, weather conditions. Sunny weather is not always good. Due to the high image resolution the sunlight gets focussed even in very small waves causing moving patterns on shallow grounds with high reflection properties, such as sand. This effect invisible under overcast weather conditions. Waves, may also introduce problems and mismatches. Secondly the quality and the accuracy of the georeferencing with SFM algorithms. As multi image key point matching will not work over water, the proposed approach will only work for projects closely to the coastline with enough control on the land. Thirdly the software used and the intensity of post processing and filtering. Refraction correction and the final interpolation of the point cloud into a DTM are the last steps. If everything is done appropriately, accuracies in the bathymetry in the range of 10 – 50 cm, depending on the water depth are possible.