Development and evaluation of an integrated UAV-based ranging and imaging system for characterizing surface relief and roughness

This research project is aimed at developing a multi-sensor system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle for characterizing soil micro-topography in agricultural fields. The system will be benefit from both passive imaging and active ranging technologies, respectively, based on an optical digital camera and a LiDAR sensor. Accurate and complete elevation measurements are essential for quantifying soil micro-topographic (MT) characteristics. Therefore, in this study, new techniques will be proposed for assuring data quality through i) optimizing the procedure of laboratory calibrations of the sensors and the system; ii) accurate integration of LiDAR point clouds and photogrammetric point clouds; and iii) ground filtering and digital terrain modeling from the integrated data and extracting soil MT variables (relief and roughness). TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Mozhdeh Shahbazi

Student:

Partner:

Centre de géomatique du Québec

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Other; Agriculture and Food; Technology

University:

University of Calgary

Program: