Airborne Laser Scanning in Poland - Between Science and Practice

The article is a retrospective analysis of the development of airborne laser scanning technology in the country in the past twenty years, i.e. from the beginnings of this technique use in Poland to the present day. The emphasis in the text is placed on development trends and scientific and application problems in the field of technology undertaken by national research centres. The review is based on numerous publications in this field, which have been released over two decades mainly in the “Archive of Photogrammetry, Cartography and Remote Sensing”. Therefore, the article is a presentation of the progress in the area of airborne laser scanning through an attempt to systematize and review national publications in this scope. It also presents the development of the national production potential and the level of the country’s coverage with data and products derived from airborne laser scanning.

Assessment and Bibliometric Review of Scientific Achievements Published in the Archives of Photogrammetry, Cartography and Remote Sensing

The Archives of Photogrammetry, Cartography and Remote Sensing is a journal which, in the era of technological development of photogrammetry and remote sensing and changes related to cartography in the field of common digitization of sources and processing of spatial information in GIS environment, has been one of the most popular places for publishing articles in this field in Poland for years. Thirty volumes published throughout 25 years have provided nearly 1000 scientific articles and monographic studies summarizing the scientific work of several hundred authors from dozens of scientific institutions and production companies in Poland. This article is an attempt to summarize the achievements published in the journal in the field of bibliometric evaluation and statistical data of the publications from the time of the existence of this inter-association journal. The text quotes the history of the journal, indicates statistics on the number of articles, their citation with the most popular items, authors, reviewers. This evaluation was compared with other national and foreign journals.

Using LiDAR Point Clouds in Determination of the Scots Pine Stands Spatial Structure Meaning in the Conservation of Lichen Communities in “Bory Tucholskie” National Park

The aim of the research carried out in 2018 and financed by the Forest Fund was the analysis of biometric features and parameters of pine stands in the area of the “Bory Tucholskie” National Park (PNBT), where a program of active protection of lichen was initiated in 2017. Environmental analyses were conducted in relation to selected biometric features of trees and stands using laser scanning (LiDAR), including ULS (Unmanned Laser Scanning; RIEGL VUX-1) and TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning; FARO FOCUS 3D; X130). Thanks to the application of LiDAR technology, the structure of pine stands was precisely determined by means of a series of descriptive statistics characterizing the 3D spatial structure of vegetation. Using the Trees Crown Model (CHM), the analysis of the volume of tree crowns and the volume of space under canopy was performed. For the analysed sub-compartments, GIS solar analyses were carried out for the solar energy reaching the canopy and the ground level due to active protection of lichen. Multispectral photos were obtained using a specialized RedEdge-M camera (MicaSense) mounted on the UAV multi rotor platform Typhoon H520 (Yuneec). Flights with a thermal camera were also performed in order to detect places on the ground with high temperature. Plant indices: NDVI, NDRE, GNDVI and GRVI were also calculated for sub-compartments. The data obtained in 2017 and 2018 were the basis for spatial and temporal analyses of 4-D changes in stands which were related to the removal of some trees and organic layer (litter, moss layer).

The Problem of Using and Measurement of Identifiable Ground Control Points on High Resolution Aerial Images

This paper shows the influence of the selection of photogrammetric control points as natural, identifiable points instead of signalized, premarked control points on the results of aerial triangulation of high-resolution aerial images with GSD below 10 cm. In the experiment, different selections of controls were tested using point-type and linear-type points with measurement of their centre or corner. In the experiment, 2 blocks with GSD of 5 and 10 cm were selected using the same measurements in 4 tested approaches with sets of natural identifiable points used by comparing the result with the reference variant. The experiment proves the possibility of using natural controls instead of premarked controls for images of urban areas. This can significantly reduce the cost of photogrammetric missions in urban areas where it is easy to find uniquely identifiable control points that can be used for image orientation.

Airborne Oblique Imaging: Towards the Hybrid Era

If the use of oblique aerial camera systems is steadily growing for 3D capture of urban areas, their combination with a LiDAR unit seems to have all the potential to lead the airborne mapping sector a step forward. To fully exploit the complementary sensor behaviour, a new perspective should be adopted that looks beyond the traditional data processing chains and extends them towards an hybrid data processing concept. Assisted tie point matching, integrated sensor orientation and augmented 3D reconstruction are the keystones of a rigorous hybrid workflow for hybrid sensors. They should all rely on a deep understanding of the different properties of active and passive 3D imaging, and of the uncertainty components in their measurements. The paper will focus on the most recent answers to these issues, that open new opportunities for boosting the quality of the geospatial products w.r.t completeness, geometric quality, object detection and processing efficiency

Delineation of the Groundwater Potential Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study of Ulhas Basin, Maharashtra, India

Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources which is essential for the environmental, biological and socio-economic activities. The present paper aims to delineate groundwater potential of Ulhas basin in India through remote sensing and geographical information system. Several groundwater influencing factors such as geology, geomorphology, slope, landuse, rainfall, lineaments are mapped in GIS environment. Later, these factors were ranked on the basis of their influence on the groundwater potential of a region. After that all these factors were integrated together in GIS environment to prepare the groundwater potential map of Ulhas basin. By implementing influencing factor, it is observed that about 21%, 50% and 29% areas are falling under high, moderate, and low groundwater potential zones, correspondingly. The present study is highly valuable to the policymakers, administrative bodies, engineers for management of groundwater and preparing sustainable water resource plans in Ulhas basin. Additionally, the present paper will help to construct artificial groundwater recharge plan in the study area.

Evaluation of Single Photon and Waveform LiDAR

In this short paper, the principles of single photon sensitive LiDAR are presented and compared against state-of-the-art full waveform, linear-mode LiDAR. The differences are explained in theory, and data of either technology are evaluated based on the City of Vienna dataset, captured in 2018 with the SPL100 (Leica) and VQ-1560i (Riegl), respectively. While SPL features a higher areal performance, waveform LiDAR turns out to be more precise, especially in complex target situations like natural or steep surfaces. Furthermore, the article summarizes current activities within EuroSDR concerning a potential Single Photon and linear-mode LiDAR benchmark.

Floodplain Delineation Based on Analysis of Digital Elevation Model, Soil Maps and Occurrence of Quaternary Formations

This paper presents a GIS based method of indicating flood extent in a mountainous river basin. Only main river with the valley is object of this analysis. The approach used in this work combines analysis of digital elevation model (DEM) obtained from LIDAR data with presence of alluvial soils and quaternary formations. In addition, in this article an attempt of calculating flood wave height for delineated floodplain is presented. The results are compared with floodplains derived from one of the products of country-scale project „IT system for protection against extraordinary hazards” (ISOK) which are flood hazard maps and with the extent of The Great Flood of 1997. Indication of the area flooded during Poland’s Great Flood in July 1997 is based on the hydrological data from Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute (IMGW – PIB).

Application of Geospatial Techniques for Gravity-Based Drinking Water Supply Management

There is growing interest in the research community to apply the various techniques pertaining to geospatial technology, with the advance part of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). This technology has been proven to be very essential in this identification and resolving the problem of water resource and allied water supply management. Considering the capabilities of geospatial techniques, the tools and techniques of similar disciplines used for gravity-based drinking water supply management in the hilly area where the human habitat is settled at foothill places. An attempt has been made in this paper to avail the use of tools and techniques of geospatial techniques for gravity-based water supply management at the village level. The Karule village is the part of central Maharashtra in India chosen for implementation of present bid. It was observed that, three-dimensional remote sensing data derived from space-borne satellite could be useful for gravity-based drinking water supply management with the help of other spatial and non-spatial database. Satellite-derived data and its incorporation with GIS and ground inventory data would be advantageous for delineation of such gravity-based water supply management in the similar area of the world.

Case Studies on the Use of UAV’s for Documentation of Cultural Heritage

In material cultural heritage documentation, the use of measurement methods, i.e. photogrammetry and laser scanning, is becoming more and more common. The increasing availability of hardware and software allows to create the photorealistic models of objects documenting the heritage and the state of its preservation. The virtual object model can carry information about the dimensions, shape, color and texture of the documented object and it can be the basis for the documentation of the archaeological site, architectural and construction inventory, architectural and conservation studies and monitoring the condition of the object. In the paper presented an overview of the most important measurement techniques and methods for acquiring spatial data used in the documentation of monuments, with particular reference to photogrammetric documentation generated on the basis of data obtained from photographs made with the use of UAV. The heritage documentation presented in the paper were created using the Agisoft Photoscan software. The use of geographic information systems in storing, analyzing and sharing information about monuments was also discussed.