Abstract
Abstract. Most of the high resolution topographic models are currently obtained either by means of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) or photogrammetry: the former is usually preferred for producing very accurate models, whereas the latter is much more frequently used in low cost applications. In particular, the availability of more affordable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with high resolution cameras led to a dramatic worldwide increase of UAV photogrammetry-based 3D reconstructions. Nevertheless, accurate high resolution photogrammetric reconstructions typically require quite long data processing procedures, which make them less suitable for real-time applications.This work aims at investigating the use of a low cost Time of Flight (ToF) camera, combined with an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) positioning system, mounted on a drone, in order to enable quasi real time 3D reconstructions of small to mid-size areas, even in locations where Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) are not available.The proposed system, tested on a small area on the Italian Alps, provided high resolution mapping results, with an error of few centimeters with respect to a terrestrial close-range photogrammetry survey conducted on the same day.
Highlights
The worldwide spread of drones and the development of new remote sensing techniques opened the opportunity for quick high resolution topographic reconstructions and autonomous inspections to better understand Earth surface processes and monitoring areas affected by natural hazards (Tarolli, 2014, Sofia, 2020).Nowadays, high resolution topographic models are typically obtained either by means of airborne or terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), or by means of photogrammetry
Grammetry, this work aims at quickly obtaining geospatial information by using a Time of Flight (ToF) camera attached to a drone
Image mismatches may lead to reconstruction errors; and camera self-calibration (Fraser, 1997), which is often used in the structure from motion approach, may cause distortions in the produced model, in particular when dealing with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) photogrammetry with nadir camera (Fraser, 2018)
Summary
High resolution topographic models are typically obtained either by means of airborne or terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), or by means of photogrammetry. Thanks to technological developments over the last decade, ToF cameras have become cheaper, smaller and provide improved performance : the introduction of the Microsoft Kinect v2 marked a significant cost reduction, while ensuring a quite high resolution and frame rate (Lachat et al, 2015, Steward et al, 2015). From LiDAR, photogrammetric 3D reconstruction typically requires a relatively long processing procedure to produce a high resolution spatial model of the area of interest. Image mismatches may lead to reconstruction errors; and camera self-calibration (Fraser, 1997), which is often used in the structure from motion approach, may cause distortions in the produced model, in particular when dealing with UAV photogrammetry with nadir camera (Fraser, 2018)
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