Using UAS Images, SfM, and Point Clouds
to Create Digital Forest Canopies in Pepperwood Preserve
Presenter: Elise Piazza
Co-Presenter(s):
Corbin Matley
Presenter Status: Undergraduate student
Department: Geography, Environment, & Planning
Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1RvLiRtgGRBzSUlxzvRhZOvt3E9XAvscF
Abstract:
| Our project aims to explore new methods for estimating carbon stored in trees and fire fuel loads. We used an eBee X fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS, i.e. drone) with a multispectral camera to capture blue, green, red, red-edge, and near-infrared spectral data. Flight zones were roughly 360,000 m^2. We manually launched the drone by throwing it and landed it in designated areas with a minimum of 50 meter clearance from canopy, on soft substrate such as grass, and as level terrain as possible. After the images were captured and downloaded to the computer we imported the images into a Structure from Motion (SfM) process (Pix4D software) which identifies commonalities between different images and uses those to stitch the images together, resulting in a point cloud. Our results are being used by graduate students at Oxford and Sonoma State University to compare our data with airborne laser scanner data and terrestrial laser scanner data to create a Digital Canopy Model. |