Mapping coral reefs using consumer-grade drones and structure from motion photogrammetry techniques

Mapping coral reefs using consumer-grade drones and structure from motion photogrammetry techniques. Casella, E., Collin, A., Harris, D., Ferse, S., Bejarano, S., Parravicini, V., Hench, J., L., & Rovere, A. Coral Reefs, 36(1):269-275, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2017.

Paper

Mapping coral reefs using consumer-grade drones and structure from motion photogrammetry techniques [link]

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We propose a novel technique to measure the small-scale three-dimensional features of a shallow-water coral reef using a small drone equipped with a consumer-grade camera, a handheld GPS and structure from motion (SfM) algorithms. We used a GoPro HERO4 with a modified lens mounted on a DJI Phantom 2 drone (maximum total take-off weight <2 kg) to perform a 10 min flight and collect 306 aerial images with an overlap equal or greater than 90%. We mapped an area of 8380 m2, obtaining as output an ortho-rectified aerial photomosaic and a bathymetric digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution of 0.78 and 1.56 cm pixel−1, respectively. Through comparison with airborne LiDAR data for the same area, we verified that the location of the ortho-rectified aerial photomosaic is accurate within ~1.4 m. The bathymetric difference between our DEM and the LiDAR dataset is −0.016 ± 0.45 m (1σ). Our results show that it is possible, in conditions of calm waters, low winds and minimal sun glint, to deploy consumer-grade drones as a relatively low-cost and rapid survey technique to produce multispectral and bathymetric data on shallow-water coral reefs. We discuss the utility of such data to monitor temporal changes in topographic complexity of reefs and associated biological processes.

@article{
 title = {Mapping coral reefs using consumer-grade drones and structure from motion photogrammetry techniques},
 type = {article},
 year = {2017},
 keywords = {Bathymetry from drones,Bathymetry from photogrammetry,Coral reefs,Drone mapping,Structure from motion underwater},
 pages = {269-275},
 volume = {36},
 websites = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00338-016-1522-0},
 publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg},
 id = {ecd45692-d1da-39cd-bba9-e28be050349a},
 created = {2016-12-01T16:20:34.000Z},
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 last_modified = {2017-12-16T15:42:40.441Z},
 read = {true},
 starred = {true},
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 citation_key = {Casella2016},
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 abstract = {We propose a novel technique to measure the small-scale three-dimensional features of a shallow-water coral reef using a small drone equipped with a consumer-grade camera, a handheld GPS and structure from motion (SfM) algorithms. We used a GoPro HERO4 with a modified lens mounted on a DJI Phantom 2 drone (maximum total take-off weight <2 kg) to perform a 10 min flight and collect 306 aerial images with an overlap equal or greater than 90%. We mapped an area of 8380 m2, obtaining as output an ortho-rectified aerial photomosaic and a bathymetric digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution of 0.78 and 1.56 cm pixel−1, respectively. Through comparison with airborne LiDAR data for the same area, we verified that the location of the ortho-rectified aerial photomosaic is accurate within ~1.4 m. The bathymetric difference between our DEM and the LiDAR dataset is −0.016 ± 0.45 m (1σ). Our results show that it is possible, in conditions of calm waters, low winds and minimal sun glint, to deploy consumer-grade drones as a relatively low-cost and rapid survey technique to produce multispectral and bathymetric data on shallow-water coral reefs. We discuss the utility of such data to monitor temporal changes in topographic complexity of reefs and associated biological processes.},
 bibtype = {article},
 author = {Casella, Elisa and Collin, Antoine and Harris, Daniel and Ferse, Sebastian and Bejarano, Sonia and Parravicini, Valeriano and Hench, James L. and Rovere, Alessio},
 doi = {10.1007/s00338-016-1522-0},
 journal = {Coral Reefs},
 number = {1}
}

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