Combined Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning and UAV Photogrammetry in Mapping Alpine Terrain

Abstract

Airborne and terrestrial laser scanning and close-range photogrammetry are frequently used for very high-resolution mapping of land surface. These techniques require a good strategy of mapping to provide full visibility of all areas otherwise the resulting data will contain areas with no data (data shadows). Especially, deglaciated rugged alpine terrain with abundant large boulders, vertical rock faces and polished roche-moutones surfaces complicated by poor accessibility for terrestrial mapping are still a challenge. In this paper, we present a novel methodological approach based on a combined use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and close-range photogrammetry from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for generating a high-resolution point cloud and digital elevation model (DEM) of a complex alpine terrain. The approach is demonstrated using a small study area in the upper part of a deglaciated valley in the Tatry Mountains, Slovakia. The more accurate TLS point cloud was supplemented by the UAV point cloud in areas with insufficient TLS data coverage. The accuracy of the iterative closest point adjustment of the UAV and TLS point clouds was in the order of several centimeters but standard deviation of the mutual orientation of TLS scans was in the order of millimeters. The generated high-resolution DEM was compared to SRTM DEM, TanDEM-X and national DMR3 DEM products confirming an excellent applicability in a wide range of geomorphologic applications.The general advantage of laser scanning over photogrammetry is in the ability of sampling several kinds of surfaces (e.g., top of vegetation canopy, inter-canopy surfaces, and ground) which are in the line of sight of the laser beam until impermeable surface restrains further penetration of the laser energy. UAV-SfM has become a low-cost alternative to TLS, generating point clouds with comparable accuracies to TLS albeit with the limitation of sampling the top surface in the field of view. Either way, in cases where TLS or UAV-SfM are used separately, data shadows originate in areas which are obscured in the sensor's field of view [23,29] (Figure 1). Complementing the unsampled areas with the surface altitude measurements is possible by sensing the area from multiple positions and different viewing perspectives by changing the location of the sensor. Zhang and Lin [30] provide a systematic overview of the lidar and photogrammetric data fusion. Cawood et al. [7] showed there is no exclusive method for capturing complex 3D geometry in the case study of 3D modelling a large boulder with distinct geological structural features. Combination of TLS and UAV-SfM provided the most satisfying results to capture the geometric complexity of the object of interest for structural analysis. A similar approach of combining different viewing geometry of TLS and photogrammetry was demonstrated in 3D modelling of a historical city by [23]. Planning the data collection in the mentioned studies concerned environments with a relatively easy access for the technology and the surveying pe...

Determining Peak Altitude on Maps, Books and Cartographic Materials: Multidisciplinary Implications

“…For example, terrestrial laser scanning may be used in combination with photogrammetric techniques for creating accurate DEMs from which the elevation values and surrounding terrain characteristics can be derived. This technology is useful, especially in steep regions or areas with various forms of terrain [85,86]. Photogrammetric techniques used for altitude determination are often based on aerial photographs taken from a plane or via unmanned aerial systems (UAS).…”

“…The structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithm facilitates the creation of accurate and dense point clouds based on photographs that may then be used to create DTMs. The use of this approach, in combination with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), has been reported by a team of Slovak researchers [86]. According to Sammartano and Spanò [87], DEMs derived from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide highly detailed morphological data of a similar quality to LiDAR and the implementation of this technique in the mapping of critical areas has shown promise.…”

Multiplatform-SfM and TLS Data Fusion for Monitoring Agricultural Terraces in Complex Topographic and Landcover Conditions

“…We integrated raw point clouds of TLS and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/terrestrial SfM to exploit the intrinsic advantages and overcome the weaknesses of each dataset. A data fusion approach, namely SfM-TLS merge, has been applied in cultural heritage environment and archaeological research [19,[32][33][34][35][36] and in environmental monitoring [14,30,[37][38][39]. This suggests that SfM-TLS fusion achieves better performance in various applications compared to the use of a single data type [40].…”

Increasing the Geometrical and Interpretation Quality of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry Products using Super-Resolution Algorithms

“…User demands are growing both for the quality of the modeling and the final resolution. UAVs are used in many areas where visual spectrum images or multi-spectral images, digital surface models (DSMs), and orthoimagery are derived and encompass the following fields: geodesy [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], agriculture [14,[16][17][18][19], forestry [20][21][22], archaeology and architecture [10,[23][24][25][26][27], environment and technical infrastructure monitoring [6,7,11,[17][18][19]21,[28][29][30][31][32][33], and emergency management and traffic monitoring [34][35][36]. Numerous cases of UAV applications have been realized by the author, during which, some problems have been encountered [37].…”