Extraction, processing, production and display of geographic data
Sara Sheshangosht; Hossein Agamohammadi; Nematollah Karimi; Zahra Azizi; Mohammad Hassan Vahidnia
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Glaciers and their short-term and long-term elevation changes are among the most critical environmental hazard indices for monitoring climate change and evaluating geomorphology, perpetually posing risks to climbers, environmentalists, and tourists. The Alamkooh ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
Glaciers and their short-term and long-term elevation changes are among the most critical environmental hazard indices for monitoring climate change and evaluating geomorphology, perpetually posing risks to climbers, environmentalists, and tourists. The Alamkooh glacier’s snout is known as one of the most dynamic parts of glaciers in Takht-e-Soliman height due to the yearly advance and retreat of glacier movement causing substantial volumes of various glacial deposits to collapse into their downstream areas. Nowadays, the advancements of satellite imagery, aerial photos, and Unmanned Automated vehicles (UAV) pave the path for accurately extracting and evaluating these changes. Therefore, the objectives of this research are: (a) evaluating the use of new and cost-effective technologies (UAVs) in comparison to satellite imagery for monitoring glacier changes, (b) identifying spatiotemporal glacier elevation changes, and (c) evaluation of the elevation change rate of the Alamkooh glacier snout from 2010 to 2020 using high spatial resolution remotely sensing data. In this context, the elevation changes of the snout of Alamkooh Glacier, as the hazardous activist part of this glacier, were assessed using Digital elevation models (DEMs) differences of 2010, 2018, and 2020.
Materials and Methods
Alamkooh Glacier is located on the northern hillside of Alamkooh Summit in the Takht-e-Soliman region. The snout of this glacier is situated in a steep valley known as Lizbonak and its high activity changes the shape and morphology of this area. In this paper, spatial and temporal elevation changes of Alamkooh Snout were identified and evaluated using DEMs subtraction derived from aerial laser scanning (LiDAR) data in 2010, and from images captured by UAV in 2018 and 2020. Before elevation change analysis, the DEMs obtained through UAVs in 2018 and 2020 were carried out using approximately 40 and 20 ground control points, respectively. The resulting outputs displayed a reliable accuracy of around 15 cm for these DEMs. In addition, for assessing elevation changes precisely, the all of extracted DEMs were preprocessed and orthorectified and then subsequently subtracted pairwise. Then after, the accuracy of elevation changes was appraised based on non-glacial area elevation change. The outcomes of elevation change in this region signify a high level of accuracy in the 10-year time span. According to the results, the average and standard division elevation change of non-glacial area was ±0.05 cm and 0.34 cm respectively. Moreover, the average error assessment on the non-glacial area indicates that within eight years from 2010 to 2018 the average error was ±0.16 cm, and within two years it was ±0.11 cm from 2018 to 2020.
Result and discussion
Results of DEMs pairwise differences show significant elevation changes in this part of Alamkooh Glacier from 2010 to 2020. The average and the maximum elevation change rates in this period are -0.8 (m/yr.) and -2.31(m/yr.) respectively. The major elevation changes in the snout of Alamkooh happened in the initial period from 2010 to 2018 where the yearly and the maximum mean elevation change rates were -1.03 (m/yr.) and –2.77 (m/yr.) respectively. On the contrary, the elevation changes from 2018 to 2020 were lower than the first period whereas the yearly mean elevation change was about +0.1 (m/yr.) and the maximum elevation change rate was -1.85 (m/yr.). The positive rate of elevation change from 2018 to 2020 is due to debris and ice cubes flowing from upstream and accumulation downstream. Moreover, the Spatial analysis of elevation changes results show a heterogeneous distribution whereas the most significant elevation change in the snout of Alamkooh glacier has occurred predominantly across and along the largest existing valley rather than being evenly spread out across the entire area. The elevation change domain in this valley is between +1.3±0.05 to -23.05±0.05 and the average elevation change of in ten years from 2010 to 2020 is about -8.01 ± 0.05 meters. These changes mostly were negative with decreasing and eroding rates. In contrast, the elevation changes in other valleys only occurred at the exit area of the glacier and just the entrance of the snout area, and the margins did not show a considerable change. When considering all valleys in the snout of Alamkooh the elevation changes distribution across the snout varies between +0.45 to -13.2 (m) with an average of -7.8 (m) which is less than alongside changes at the main valley.
Conclusion
The results show elevation changes in the Almakooh snout do not have constant rate and largely fluctuate in different years and regions. The maximum elevation changes occurred from 2010 to 2018 and along with the main steepest valley. The main valley plays a vital role in elevation change analysis and flowing debris down. This area is also known as the depletion area of the Alamkooh glacier and its drastic elevation changes are caused due to ice and snow melt. The tremendous historical flood of the SardAbrood River occurred in June 2011 was created and affected by elevation changes in this area. Therefore, the tongue of Alamkooh Glacier is considered one of the most dangerous areas regarding natural hazards, and morphological change studies require precaution regarding approaching or visiting this area. This research also confirms that using time-series of remote sensing data such as UAV and Lidar images is very helpful and cost-effective data for identifying, extracting, and monitoring the spatiotemporal changes of glaciers, debris flow directions, and natural hazards.
Aerial photography
Morteza Heidarimozaffar; Reza Zerafatyjamal; Hossein Torabzadeh Khorasani
Abstract
Extended AbstractIntroduction:The production of topographic maps by drone photogrammetry has replaced traditional mapping in many civil projects. UAV photogrammetry due to the rapid development of hardware and software can be used in many geomatic applications including agriculture, forestry, archeology ...
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Extended AbstractIntroduction:The production of topographic maps by drone photogrammetry has replaced traditional mapping in many civil projects. UAV photogrammetry due to the rapid development of hardware and software can be used in many geomatic applications including agriculture, forestry, archeology and architecture, emergency management, and traffic monitoring. Nowadays, mapping the boundaries of linear projects such as roads, water transmission canals, power transmission lines (electricity and gas), railway lines, and the like, is done by UAV photogrammetry. UAV photogrammetry has emerged as a viable alternative due to its lower cost, greater spatial and temporal resolution, and flexibility in capturing images compared to other conventional aerial and space methods. Despite various researches in this field, the effect of the imaging method on the accuracy of topographic maps has not been directly studied and tested. In this paper, the experimental conditions of UAV photogrammetric imaging methods in two modes of height-fixed and scale-fixed were considered. The effect of using accurate positioning equipment on image centers on reducing the number of required control points has also been investigated.Materials & Methods:Assessing and ensuring accuracy is very important for topographic maps. Knowledge of the number and distribution of control points throughout the project area and the optimal imaging method are effective in producing these maps. In this paper, to achieve the most optimal imaging mode and the highest accuracy in the production of topographic maps for this type of project, the effects of flight design parameters, number, and distribution of control points were studied. Also, the effect of using accurate positioning equipment of image centers on reducing the number of required control points has been investigated. Image processing without accurate information of image centers with control points, image processing with accurate information of image centers and without using control points, and image processing with accurate information of image centers and control points, were considered in two flight modes with fixed altitude and fixed scale. Of the 25 points whose exact coordinates were measured differentially by the Global Positioning System, 18 were ground control points and 7 checked points. The control of the elevation coordinates of the points was performed using the direct geometric leveling method. To evaluate the accuracy of the results, the amount of error and the accuracy of the work performed, the leveling operation was performed in a round trip between all control and checkpoints.Results & Discussion:Evaluating the accuracy of the UAV photogrammetric method in producing topographic maps related to this project, according to the criterion, the root means square of errors has been done for the control and checkpoints. In addition to calculating this criterion for control and checkpoints, the difference between the digital models prepared and the reference model was considered another criterion for comparison and evaluation. According to the results, the mean height error of all points in the constant-scale mode has the lowest value in Scenario 3. The numerical value of the mean error, in this case, was equal to 0.010 meters for control points and 0.020 meters for checkpoints. The accuracy of the models obtained from point clouds with dimensions of 0.5 meters is higher than the point clouds of 2 and 4 meters. The largest difference from the reference model is related to model 1 in the category of models obtained from 0.5-meter point clouds, which vary numerically in the range (-1.68 to 10.56) meters.Conclusion:The results of the height error evaluation of control and checkpoints show if aerial triangulation and justification of images use image center observations alone, in challenging projects the mapping of linear areas where the mapping is done in a strip area will not have the desired accuracy. The use of ground reference images alone is not sufficient and the simultaneous use of ground control points and ground reference images improves the accuracy of the results. As a result, the use of ground control points, fixed scale images, and image center information in the image processing process to produce corridor maps provides the best elevation accuracy compared to other modes. Also, the use of the initial digital elevation model of the project area in performing flight operations and capturing images with fixed scales has a significant effect on increasing the accuracy of the elevation component. Based on the comparison of the final digital elevation models compared to the reference model, the accuracy of the models obtained from the resolution of 0.5 meters is higher than 2 and 4 meters. Also, the effectiveness of filters to correct and reduce errors in digital elevation models has better results.
Aerial photography
Zahra Azizi; Mojdeh Miraki
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Advances in computer vision and the development of remote sensing instruments have made indirect measurement of tree features possible. Individual tree crown delineation is an important step towards information collection and mapping trees in an urban area. This information ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
Advances in computer vision and the development of remote sensing instruments have made indirect measurement of tree features possible. Individual tree crown delineation is an important step towards information collection and mapping trees in an urban area. This information is then used to help planners design strategies for optimization of urban ecosystem services and adapt to climate changes. Common methods of Individual tree crown delineation (ITCD) were based on very high-resolution satellite or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. However, satellite data are usually covered by clouds and thus, cannot be appropriate for the measurement of individual trees. Aerial Laser scanning is also relatively expensive. Remote sensing with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) captures low altitude imagery and thus, is potentially capable of mapping complex urban vegetation. Automatic delineation of trees with UAV data makes collection of detailed information from trees in large geographic and urban regions possible. Therefore, a multirotor UAV equipped with a high-resolution RGB camera was used in the present study to obtain aerial images and delineate individual trees.
Materials & Methods
The present study has compared the performance of Inverse watershed segmentation (IWS) and region growing (RG) algorithms using point clouds derived from Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithm and UAV imagery captured with the aim of tree delineation in Fateh urban forest located in Karaj. Region growing (RG) is used to separate regions and distinguish objects in an image. It starts at the initial seed points and determines whether the neighboring pixels should be added to the growing region. If the neighboring pixels are sufficiently similar to the seed pixel, they are labeled as belonging to the seed pixel. To implement the algorithm, the window size and the growing threshold were set for all resolutions. In order to obtain the most appropriate size for the search window, we examined different window sizes with a growing threshold of 0.5 for each resolution. Individual trees delineation was performed for each CHM resolution in the three different sites using "itcSegment" package of R software. Watershed segmentation algorithm is also similar to RG algorithm. The only difference is that it sets the growing seeds at the local minima. In other words, the local maxima in this algorithm change into local minima and vice versa. Inverse Watershed Segmentation (IWS) method was implemented in ArcGIS 10.3 because of its capability in delineation of distinct tree entities. In the summer of 2018, three sites with different structures including a mixed uneven-aged dense stand (site 1), a mixed uneven-aged sparse stand (site 2), and a homogeneous even-aged dense stand (site 3) were surveyed and photographed, and a 3D point cloud was extracted from the images. Then, the performance of algorithms was tested using a series of different canopy height models (CHM) with spatial resolutions of 25, 50, 75, 100, and 120 cm. To generate these models, digital surface model (DSM) was subtracted from digital terrain model (DTM). Results of individual tree delineation were validated using data collected in field observation of the aforementioned sites.
Results & Discussion
Results indicated that both RG and IWS algorithms yielded their best performance in the dense homogeneous structure. Moreover, the number of segments resulting from CHMs with low resolution was often much more than the actual number of trees. This was due to the occurrence of several peaks within an individual tree crown especially in low resolution images. With an F-score of 0.88, homogeneous even-aged dense stand (site 3) showed the highest overall accuracy in RG algorithm with a pixel size of 75 cm. Generally, results indicated that RG is an appropriate approach for individual tree delineation due to its flexibility in delineation of varying crown sizes. Furthermore, this method does not assume a circular shape for tree crowns and thus, is capable of detecting and segmenting irregular crowns. Generally, delineation of trees in urban forests using CHMs obtained from UAV-captured aerial imagery was highly accurate in homogeneous sites, while such models lacked efficiency in heterogeneous sites.
