Earthwork Volumetrics with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Softcopy Photogrammetry
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 1
Abstract
Small unmanned/uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) are quickly becoming a cost-effective alternative for mapping and volumetrics, particularly for small- to medium-sized earthwork projects. However, the accuracy of photogrammetrically derived digital terrain models (DTMs) from UAV imagery is not extensively tested. This gap is addressed through a case study of stockpile volume estimation. A gravel stockpile was surveyed with a vertical take-off and landing UAV before and after a portion of it was excavated. Softcopy photogrammetry was applied to the UAV images to produce before and after DTMs, each with a resolution of 3.5 cm. The vertical accuracy of the UAV DTMs was estimated with global positioning system (GPS) test points, yielding RMS errors of 0.106 (before) and 0.097 m (after). These errors are similar to, if not lower, than those produced by airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR), in general, but are higher than for terrestrial laser scanning. The before and after volume of the stockpile estimated from the UAV DTMs was 2.6 and 3.9% lower than the volume estimated from GPS-interpolated DTMs. By differencing the two UAV DTMs, the volume of gravel extracted from the stockpile was estimated and compared with a haul ticket. According to the latter, the extracted volume was , which was 2.5% lower than the volume derived from the difference between the UAV DTMs (). Overall, results from this study indicate that UAV-based volumetrics can yield measurements that are similar to conventional techniques. In some cases, they may offer a more cost-effective, safer, and efficient technique for surveying at earthwork projects.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Cenovus Energy for providing funding for this project.
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Published In
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 1 • February 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 11, 2013
Accepted: Sep 8, 2014
Published online: Oct 21, 2014
Published in print: Feb 1, 2015
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