Bathymetric Structure-from-Motion: extracting shallow stream bathymetry from multi-view stereo photogrammetry

AbstractStructure-from-Motion Multi View Stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetry is a technique by which volumetric data can be derived from overlapping image sets, using changes of an objects position between images to determine its height and spatial structure. Whilst SfM-MVS has fast become a powerful tool for scientific research, its potential lies beyond the scientific setting, since it can aid in delivering information about habitat structure, biomass, landscape topography, spatial distribution of species in both two and three dimensions, and aid in mapping change over time – both actual and predicted. All of which are of strong relevance for the conservation community, whether from a practical management perspective or understanding and presenting data in new and novel ways from a policy perspective.For practitioners outside of academia wanting to use SfM-MVS there are technical barriers to its application. For example, there are many SfM-MVS software options, but knowing which to choose, or how to get the best results from the software can be difficult for the uninitiated. There are also free and open source software options (FOSS) for processing data through a SfM-MVS pipeline that could benefit those in conservation management and policy, especially in instances where there is limited funding (i.e. commonly within grassroots or community-based projects). This paper signposts the way for the conservation community to understand the choices and options for SfM-MVS implementation, its limitations, current best practice guidelines and introduces applicable FOSS options such as OpenDroneMap, MicMac, CloudCompare, QGIS and speciesgeocodeR. It will also highlight why and where this technology has the potential to become an asset for spatial, temporal and volumetric studies of landscape and conservation ecology.

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Combining Structure from Motion and close-range stereo photogrammetry to obtain scaled gravel bar DEMs

International Journal of Remote Sensing ◽

10.1080/01431161.2018.1530809 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (23) ◽

pp. 9269-9293 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Wei Li ◽

Stephane Bertin ◽

Heide Friedrich

Keyword(s):

Structure From Motion ◽

Stereo Photogrammetry ◽

Close Range ◽

Gravel Bar

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Sediment Yields Triggered by Heavy Rainfall in July 2012 at Aso Volcano: Application of High-Definition Topography Data Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Structure-from-Motion Multi-View Stereo Photogrammetry

Geographical review of Japan series A ◽

10.4157/grj.89.347 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 89 (6) ◽

pp. 347-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

SAITO Hitoshi ◽

UCHIYAMA Shoichiro ◽

OBANAWA Hiroyuki ◽

HAYAKAWA Yuichi S.

Keyword(s):

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽

Structure From Motion ◽

Heavy Rainfall ◽

Aso Volcano ◽

High Definition ◽

Sediment Yields ◽

Aerial Vehicles ◽

Stereo Photogrammetry ◽

Topography Data

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LOCAL AND GENERAL MONITORING OF FORNI GLACIER (ITALIAN ALPS) USING MULTI-PLATFORM STRUCTURE-FROM-MOTION PHOTOGRAMMETRY

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-2-w7-1547-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol XLII-2/W7 ◽

pp. 1547-1554 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M. Scaioni ◽

M. Corti ◽

G. Diolaiuti ◽

D. Fugazza ◽

M. Cernuschi

Keyword(s):

Structure From Motion ◽

Accuracy Assessment ◽

Laser Scanner ◽

High Mountain ◽

Italian Alps ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

Medium Resolution ◽

Stereo Photogrammetry ◽

Glacier Ice ◽

Global And Local

Experts from the University of Milan have been investigating Forni Glacier in the Italian alps for decades, resulting in the archive of a cumbersome mass of observed data. While the analysis of archive maps, medium resolution satellite images and DEM’s may provide an overview of the long-term processes, the application of close-range sensing techniques offers the unprecedented opportunity to operate a 4D reconstruction of the glacier geometry at both global and local levels. In the latest years the availability of high-resolution DEM's from stereo-photogrammetry (2007) and UAV-photogrammetry (2014 and 2016) has allowed an improved analysis of the glacier ice-mass balance within time. During summer 2016 a methodology to record the local disruption processes has been investigated. The presence of vertical and sub-vertical surfaces has motivated the use of Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry from ground-based stations, which yielded results comparable to the ones achieved using a long-range terrestrial laser scanner. This technique may be assumed as benchmarking for accuracy assessment, but is more difficult to be operated in high-mountain areas. Nevertheless, the measurement of GCP’s for the terrestrial photogrammetric project has revealed to be a complex task, involving the need of a total station a GNSS. The effect of network geometry on the final output has also been investigated for SfM-Photogrammetry, considering the severe limitations implied in the Alpine environment.

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Structure from Motion used to revive archived aerial photographs for geomorphological analysis: an example from Mount Meager volcano, British Columbia, Canada

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjes-2020-0140 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gioachino Roberti ◽

Brent C. Ward ◽

Benjamin van Wyk de Vries ◽

Luigi Perotti ◽

Marco Giardino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Structure From Motion ◽

Landscape Change ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Past Century ◽

Hazard Management ◽

Stereo Photogrammetry ◽

1960S And 1970S ◽

Public Audience ◽

The 1960S

High resolution topographic modeling has become more accessible due to the development of Structure from Motion (SfM) image matching algorithms in digital photogrammetry. Large archival databases of historical aerial photographs are available in university, public, and government libraries, commonly as paper copies. The photos can be in poor condition (i.e. deformed by humidity, scratched, or annotated). In addition, the negatives, as well as metadata, may be missing. Processing such photos using classic stereo-photogrammetry is difficult and, in many instances, impossible. SfM can be applied to these photosets to access the valuable archive of geomorphic changes over the past century. In this paper, we illustrate the utility of the SfM technique using 568 digitized vertical aerial photographs of Mount Meager volcano, located in southwest British Columbia, Canada. We use the aerial photographs, which span the period from 1947 to 2006, to track glacier and glacier-landslide interactions on the volcano. Over this period, glaciers have thinned and retreated, interrupted by minor advances in the 1960s and 1970s. Landslides are frequent on the volcano and contribute to debris cover on the glaciers affecting the ablation process. SfM processing of the aerial photographs allowed us to unlock geomorphic information and reconstruct landscape change that would otherwise have been impossible. The results from SfM provide a visually effective way of presenting landscape change to a broad public audience, as a form of virtual geoheritage. The approach can thus be broadly applied in scientific and professional practices for improving land planning and hazard management.

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