Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Accuracy Assessment on Unmanned Aerial System Derived Digital Surface Models

Salvatore Manfreda
* ORCID logo ,
Petr Dvorak
,
Jana Mullerova
,
Sorin Herban
,
Pietro Vuono
,
José Juan Arranz Justel
ORCID logo ,
Matthew Perks
Version 1 : Received: 28 September 2018 / Approved: 29 September 2018 / Online: 29 September 2018 (05:03:23 CEST)

How to cite: Manfreda, S.; Dvorak, P.; Mullerova, J.; Herban, S.; Vuono, P.; Arranz Justel, J.J.; Perks, M. Accuracy Assessment on Unmanned Aerial System Derived Digital Surface Models. Preprints 2018, 2018090579. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201809.0579.v1 Manfreda, S.; Dvorak, P.; Mullerova, J.; Herban, S.; Vuono, P.; Arranz Justel, J.J.; Perks, M. Accuracy Assessment on Unmanned Aerial System Derived Digital Surface Models. Preprints 2018, 2018090579. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201809.0579.v1

Abstract

Small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) represent a cost-effective strategy for topographic surveys. These low-cost drones can provide useful information for 3D reconstruction even if they are equipped with a low-quality navigation system. To ensure the production of high-quality topographic models, careful consideration of flight mode and proper distribution of ground control points is required. To this end a commercial drone has been adopted to monitor a small earthen dam using different combinations of flight configurations and adopting a variable number of ground control points (GCPs). Results highlighted that both choice and combination of flight plans can reduce the relative error of the 3D model up to a few meters without the need of including GCPs. The use of GCPs allows the quality of topographic survey to be greatly improved, reducing error to the order of a few centimeters. In particular, the combined use of images extracted from two flights, one with a camera mounted at nadir and the second with a 20° angle, proves extremely beneficial to increase the overall accuracy of the 3D model and especially of the vertical precision.

Keywords

topographic surveys; UAS; DSM; GCPs; SfM; MVS

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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