Photogrammetric reconstruction of homogenous snow surfaces in alpine terrain applying near-infrared UAS imagery.

London

2009

S. 3135-3158

Sonderdruck

12201S

202708

Operating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to record imagery of alpine snow cover for photogrammetric applications is challenging due to topographic and meteorological conditions. Furthermore, the homogenous snow surface encumbers the automated detection of matching points, which are required for generating accurate digital surface models (DSMs). On the other hand, there is rising demand for high spatial resolution snow depth and snow surface-type mapping as well as snow avalanche documentation. UAS have the potential to enable flexible, timely, and cost-efficient data acquisition, even in poorly accessible alpine terrain. This could be a major step forward for many applications in snow hydrology, avalanche research, mitigation measure planning, hazard zonation, and alpine ecology investigations.