Derivation of river bathymetry using imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
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Authors
Pawlenko, Matthew
Subjects
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
River Bathymetry
Remote Sensing
Bathymetric Derivation
Look-up Table
Beer’s Law
Kootenai River
Trinity River
River Bathymetry
Remote Sensing
Bathymetric Derivation
Look-up Table
Beer’s Law
Kootenai River
Trinity River
Advisors
Durkee, Philip A.
Holland, K. Todd
Date of Issue
2011-09
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
In many places that U.S. forces operate, there exists an insufficient amount of data regarding river water depths, which is a necessity for safe operational planning. Satellite sensors and airborne manned platforms have been used for bathymetric derivation, but are not in abundance, nor do they have the spatial resolution required to examine smaller rivers. Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), this research examines the feasibility of using a ratio method with digital imagery to derive water depths, as well as a simpler polynomial regression to create a lookup table for use in the field. The results show that the ratio method of Red to Blue had higher correlation than Red color band on its own, and that the simple polynomial regression using a ratio of Red to Blue had higher correlation than more widely accepted methods. However, both methods are limited by a maximum depth, which is defined as the point where color no longer changes with depth. All depths beyond this point appear as this maximum depth. These findings show that using imagery from UAVs for bathymetric derivation could be a feasible alternative to accepted satellite imagery methods, but further research is needed to demonstrate operational utility.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funding
Format
xvi, 67 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ;
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.