Drone-LiDAR and Photogrammetry Modelling for Engineering Design

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Diodrone was commissioned by National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) to carry out a drone-based topographic survey of 5ha of vegetated terrain in the Thredbo Valley. The survey was required to help with the planning and design of an elevated boardwalk through a scree slope.

In order to reduce reliance on onsite inspections by contractors and stakeholders, and to reduce construction risks, NPWS required a high detail reality capture to assist with design and construction of the boardwalk alignment and footing placement.

PROJECT SCOPE

Drone-LiDAR and Photogrammetry

3D Reality Model

Topographic Survey

DIODRONE SOLUTION

Diodrone developed a solution that combined both LiDAR and photogrammetry to provide topographic survey outputs and 3D reality model of the site.

Due to the heavy vegetated terrain, drone-LiDAR was utilized for the topographic survey. A high resolution point cloud was produced which the DTM and elevation contour outputs were derived from.

Photogrammetry data was captured at very high detail and below the tree canopy, allowing for high quality visualisation of the terrain surface even where significant tree cover existed.

Photogrammetry modelling was used to provide a rich visualization of the site to aid design and planning of the walking track, bridges and boardwalks. High resolution imagery was captured to generate the 3D reality model and aerial orthophoto.

To provide more detail of the site, imagery was captured underneath the tree canopy. During photogrammetry processing, vegetation features were filtered from the data to produced a reality model which better visualised ground conditions and wasn’t obscured by vegetation. This enabled engineers to view surface terrain, scree and other features below the canopy for detailed design and placement of boardwalk footings/supports.