Detection of Terrain Morphologic Features Using GPS, TLS, and Land Surveys: “Tana della Volpe” Blind Valley Case Study
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 3
Abstract
The aim of this article is to review the potentiality and reliability of the integrated usage of global positioning system (GPS), terrestrial laser scanner (TLS), and total station survey measurements in the geomorphologic studies. Test surveys based on these techniques were done in the area of “Tana della Volpe” blind valley and in the adjacent “Monticino” quarry, near Brisighella, Ravenna, Northern Apennines, Italy. Such sites are characterized by peculiar geomorphologic attributes such as the presence of slope, karst, and anthropic forms. We surveyed about 18,000 GPS points and about 42,200,000 TLS points in a total of 22 scans. The processing of the survey’s whole data set produced three distinct arrays of three-dimensional (3D) coordinates complemented by orthometric heights. Moreover, an integrated multistep procedure was implemented based on the following premises: (1) the removal of points not referred to the bare earth surface; (2) the combination of three coordinate sets into a single one referred to the whole study; (3) the generation of a bare earth digital model; and (4) the elaboration of a unified contour map. The resulting high correspondence between the observed forms and the 3D models was used to realize a detailed thematic geomorphologic map by means of which it is now possible to locate and highlight the forms observed in the field. In particular by means of TLS measurements we found a maximum difference in the spatial attitude of the observed discontinuities of 5.6° and some interesting coincidences in the evaluation of the joint roughness of several centimeters.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to acknowledge Dr. Monica Ghirotti, Professor Paolo Forti, and Dr. Iuri Montanari for the participation study, scientific advice, and the critical revision of some parts of the manuscript. Particular thanks are due to Professor Paolo Baldi and Mario Ciabatti for the useful remarks and suggestions during the revision of the text. Moreover, the writers wish to acknowledge Dr. Arnaldo Roberti for the participation in the study. A great thank you is addressed to Leica Geosystems Italy for the operative and technical support given during the TLS experimentation and data processing. The writers are grateful to Immagini TerraItaly BLOM CGR S.p.A.—Parma (www.terraitaly.it) which kindly provided the aerial photo of the study area. The writers wish to acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers whose indications improved the presentation and quality of the paper.
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Published In
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 3 • August 2010
Pages: 132 - 138
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 12, 2008
Accepted: Oct 5, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Aug 2010
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