MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS
OTF (Off The Shelf) quadro copter systems provide a cost effective (below 2000 Euro), flexible and mobile platform for high resolution point cloud mapping. Various studies showed the full potential of these small and flexible platforms. Especially in very tight and complex 3D environments the auto...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-08-01
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| Series: | The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XLII-2-W6/141/2017/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W6-141-2017.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818911559825489920 |
|---|---|
| author | S. Hese F. Behrendt |
| author_facet | S. Hese F. Behrendt |
| author_sort | S. Hese |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OTF (Off The Shelf) quadro copter systems provide a cost effective (below 2000 Euro), flexible and mobile platform for high
resolution point cloud mapping. Various studies showed the full potential of these small and flexible platforms. Especially in very
tight and complex 3D environments the automatic obstacle avoidance, low copter weight, long flight times and precise maneuvering
are important advantages of these small OTS systems in comparison with larger octocopter systems. This study examines the
potential of the DJI Phantom 4 pro series and the Phantom 3A series for within-stand and forest tree crown 3D point cloud mapping
using both within stand oblique imaging in different altitude levels and data captured from a nadir perspective. On a test site in
Brandenburg/Germany a beach crown was selected and measured with 3 different altitude levels in Point Of Interest (POI) mode
with oblique data capturing and deriving one nadir mosaic created with 85/85 % overlap using Drone Deploy automatic mapping
software. Three different flight campaigns were performed, one in September 2016 (leaf-on), one in March 2017 (leaf-off) and one in
May 2017 (leaf-on) to derive point clouds from different crown structure and phenological situations – covering the leaf-on and leafoff
status of the tree crown. After height correction, the point clouds where used with GPS geo referencing to calculate voxel based
densities on 50 × 10 × 10 cm voxel definitions using a topological network of chessboard image objects in 0,5 m height steps in an
object based image processing environment. Comparison between leaf-off and leaf-on status was done on volume pixel definitions
comparing the attributed point densities per volume and plotting the resulting values as a function of distance to the crown center.
<br><br>
In the leaf-off status SFM (structure from motion) algorithms clearly identified the central stem and also secondary branch systems.
While the penetration into the crown structure is limited in the leaf-on status (the point cloud is a mainly a description of the
interpolated crown surface) – the visibility of the internal crown structure in leaf-off status allows to map also the internal tree
structure up to and stopping at the secondary branch level system. When combined the leaf-on and leaf-off point clouds generate a
comprehensive tree crown structure description that allows a low cost and detailed 3D crown structure mapping and potentially
precise biomass mapping and/or internal structural differentiation of deciduous tree species types. Compared to TLS (Terrestrial
Laser Scanning) based measurements the costs are neglectable and in the range of 1500–2500 €. This suggests the approach for low
cost but fine scale in-situ applications and/or projects where TLS measurements cannot be derived and for less dense forest stands
where POI flights can be performed. This study used the in-copter GPS measurements for geo referencing. Better absolute geo
referencing results will be obtained with DGPS reference points. The study however clearly demonstrates the potential of OTS very
low cost copter systems and the image attributed GPS measurements of the copter for the automatic calculation of complex 3D point
clouds in a multi temporal tree crown mapping context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T23:00:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14f2fc838fe444bea62745b92e82b315 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1682-1750 2194-9034 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T23:00:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-14f2fc838fe444bea62745b92e82b3152022-12-21T20:02:30ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences1682-17502194-90342017-08-01XLII-2-W614114310.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W6-141-2017MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMSS. Hese0F. Behrendt1Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Earth Observation Department, Institute for Geography, 07743 Jena, GermanyFriedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Earth Observation Department, Institute for Geography, 07743 Jena, GermanyOTF (Off The Shelf) quadro copter systems provide a cost effective (below 2000 Euro), flexible and mobile platform for high resolution point cloud mapping. Various studies showed the full potential of these small and flexible platforms. Especially in very tight and complex 3D environments the automatic obstacle avoidance, low copter weight, long flight times and precise maneuvering are important advantages of these small OTS systems in comparison with larger octocopter systems. This study examines the potential of the DJI Phantom 4 pro series and the Phantom 3A series for within-stand and forest tree crown 3D point cloud mapping using both within stand oblique imaging in different altitude levels and data captured from a nadir perspective. On a test site in Brandenburg/Germany a beach crown was selected and measured with 3 different altitude levels in Point Of Interest (POI) mode with oblique data capturing and deriving one nadir mosaic created with 85/85 % overlap using Drone Deploy automatic mapping software. Three different flight campaigns were performed, one in September 2016 (leaf-on), one in March 2017 (leaf-off) and one in May 2017 (leaf-on) to derive point clouds from different crown structure and phenological situations – covering the leaf-on and leafoff status of the tree crown. After height correction, the point clouds where used with GPS geo referencing to calculate voxel based densities on 50 × 10 × 10 cm voxel definitions using a topological network of chessboard image objects in 0,5 m height steps in an object based image processing environment. Comparison between leaf-off and leaf-on status was done on volume pixel definitions comparing the attributed point densities per volume and plotting the resulting values as a function of distance to the crown center. <br><br> In the leaf-off status SFM (structure from motion) algorithms clearly identified the central stem and also secondary branch systems. While the penetration into the crown structure is limited in the leaf-on status (the point cloud is a mainly a description of the interpolated crown surface) – the visibility of the internal crown structure in leaf-off status allows to map also the internal tree structure up to and stopping at the secondary branch level system. When combined the leaf-on and leaf-off point clouds generate a comprehensive tree crown structure description that allows a low cost and detailed 3D crown structure mapping and potentially precise biomass mapping and/or internal structural differentiation of deciduous tree species types. Compared to TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning) based measurements the costs are neglectable and in the range of 1500–2500 €. This suggests the approach for low cost but fine scale in-situ applications and/or projects where TLS measurements cannot be derived and for less dense forest stands where POI flights can be performed. This study used the in-copter GPS measurements for geo referencing. Better absolute geo referencing results will be obtained with DGPS reference points. The study however clearly demonstrates the potential of OTS very low cost copter systems and the image attributed GPS measurements of the copter for the automatic calculation of complex 3D point clouds in a multi temporal tree crown mapping context.https://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XLII-2-W6/141/2017/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W6-141-2017.pdf |
| spellingShingle | S. Hese F. Behrendt MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| title | MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS |
| title_full | MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS |
| title_fullStr | MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS |
| title_full_unstemmed | MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS |
| title_short | MULTISEASONAL TREE CROWN STRUCTURE MAPPING WITH POINT CLOUDS FROM OTS QUADROCOPTER SYSTEMS |
| title_sort | multiseasonal tree crown structure mapping with point clouds from ots quadrocopter systems |
| url | https://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XLII-2-W6/141/2017/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W6-141-2017.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shese multiseasonaltreecrownstructuremappingwithpointcloudsfromotsquadrocoptersystems AT fbehrendt multiseasonaltreecrownstructuremappingwithpointcloudsfromotsquadrocoptersystems |