Mapping Unmanned Aerial System Data onto Building Information Modeling Parameters for Highway Construction Progress Monitoring

The transportation infrastructure management sector lacks automated procedures that can help it find and resolve the performance deviations. The objective of this research is to illustrate the mapping of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) collected photogrammetric data to building information modeling (BIM) parameters, and their application for automated construction progress monitoring and the generation of as-built models. The goal is to support project managers to estimate project progress during highway construction. As a part of ongoing work, this paper takes into account 4D (3D + time) data that is acquired from 3D surface digital elevation models, point clouds, LiDAR data, and orthographic photos. It maps these 4D data onto BIM parameters to create as-built models of the project at different intervals. A comparison between as-planned and as-built models using the earned value management method is employed to develop metrics that can be used for indicating cost and schedule deviations during construction. The mapping methodology introduced in this paper is illustrated using an ongoing highway construction project case study. The main contribution of this paper is the organization, processing, and integration of UAS data with BIM data structures and project management workflows. The research outcomes will assist project managers in an easy and quick identification of potential performance problems and support the project management decision-making process.

How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education

Immersive virtual reality can potentially open up interesting geological sites to students, academics and others who may not have had the opportunity to visit such sites previously. We study how users perceive the usefulness of an immersive virtual reality approach applied to Earth Sciences teaching and communication. During nine immersive virtual reality-based events held in 2018 and 2019 in various locations (Vienna in Austria, Milan and Catania in Italy, Santorini in Greece), a large number of visitors had the opportunity to navigate, in immersive mode, across geological landscapes reconstructed by cutting-edge, unmanned aerial system-based photogrammetry techniques. The reconstructed virtual geological environments are specifically chosen virtual geosites, from Santorini (Greece), the North Volcanic Zone (Iceland), and Mt. Etna (Italy). Following the user experiences, we collected 459 questionnaires, with a large spread in participant age and cultural background. We find that the majority of respondents would be willing to repeat the immersive virtual reality experience, and importantly, most of the students and Earth Science academics who took part in the navigation confirmed the usefulness of this approach for geo-education purposes.

Unmanned aerial systems (uas or drones) and data protection: some reflections on recreational drones and their privacy impact

Edycja ANGIELSKI Nowadays, in order to fly a drone weighing less than 250 grams, it is not necessary to take any kind of exam or theoretical knowledge through the EASA, but simply to familiarise oneself with the user manual which, although it normally contains the flight instructions, does not contain references to data protection or its legislation. The problem may arise from the fact that the drone is considered a toy in accordance with Directive 2009/48/EC, and that it has sensors capable of capturing images. In addition, there is no minimum age requirement for remote pilots of these toys operating in subcategory A1 specified in Part A of the Annex to this Regulation with a class C0 UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) as defined in Part 1 of the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945; although twelve years is the age for pilots of mass up to 250 grams, which are not considered toys, for the use of UAS in subcategory A1, as provided for in section UAS.OPEN.020, Part A of the Annex to the Implementing Regulation. In this study we will analyse the privacy and data issues that affect the European and Spanish regulation on UAS.

Überprüfung der Homogenitätsannahme und der Gültigkeit der Taylor Hypothese in atmosphärischen Grenzschichtströmungen mittels räumlich verteilter Messungen einer UAS Flotte

<p>Im Rahmen des Projekts SWUF-3D wurden während der Messkampagne FESSTVaL im Sommer 2021 am Grenzschichtmessfeld (GM) Falkenberg des DWD räumlich separierte Messungen in der atmosphärischen Grenzschicht mittels einer Flotte Quadrotor UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) durchgeführt. Es wurden mehrere UAS in einer horizontalen Ebene sowohl in Strömungsrichtung, als auch senkrecht dazu angeordnet, um so das turbulente Windfeld simultan an mehreren festen Punkten zu vermessen. Die Strömungsrichtung wurde dabei aus Windmessungen des 99 m hohen Messmasts am GM bestimmt.  Variierende räumliche Abstände zwischen benachbarten UAS im horizontalen Messmuster erlauben Turbulenzauswertungen als Funktion der Distanz.  Die Messungen können genutzt werden, um die in der atmosphärischen Grenzschichtforschung vielfach verwendeten Annahmen der Homogenität und der Taylor Hypothese zu überprüfen.  Um mögliche Abhängigkeiten dieser Annahmen von unterschiedlichen atmosphärischen Randbedingungen zu erkennen, wurde die Messstrategie unter verschiedenen Bedingungen (neutral, konvektiv und stabil geschichtete Grenzschicht) wiederholt. Die Messergebnisse zeigen, dass im Rahmen der Messgenauigkeit keine signifikante Verletzung der Homogenitätsannahme für die untersuchten atmosphärischen Randbedingungen in der Mikroskala vorliegt.  Abnahmen mit der Distanz der in Strömungsrichtung berechneten Kreuzkorrelationsfunktionen und Kohärenzen, deuten darauf hin, dass Taylor’s Hypothese der eingefrorenen Turbulenz, die mit dem mittleren Wind transportiert wird, nicht gänzlich für alle Skalen anwendbar ist.  Jedoch sind hierbei auch Messgenauigkeiten der UAS und leichte Fehlausrichtung des Messmusters gegenüber der tatsächlich vorherrschenden Windrichtung während des Flugs zu berücksichtigen. Die Fehlausrichtung führt dazu, dass eine turbulente Struktur nicht parallel durch alle Messpunkte durchwandert, sondern mit einer seitlichen Verschiebung. Die Studie zeigt das Potential zur in-situ Vermessung zeitlich und räumlich komplexer Strömungen mit einer Flotte von Quadrotor UAS im Skalenbereich von 5 m bis 200 m. Eine Ausdehnung des Messvolumens über die Mikroskala hinaus kann in Zukunft einen wichtigen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis kohärenter Strukturen in der turbulenten atmosphärischen Grenzschicht leisten.</p>

Tile drainage monitoring in agricultural fields with an unmanned aerial system

In Russia, the volume of restoration and maintenance work of drainage reclamation systems has significantly decreased, the number of trained reclamation specialists has decreased, most of the objects need reconstruction, and the documentation and schemes of pipes and channels of drainage systems have been lost. Accordingly, the development of agricultural drainage reclamation will require large amounts of financial and labor costs. The aim of the work is to present an alternative approach to assessing the status of these systems for making management decisions using an unmanned aerial system (UAS), which allows you to quickly obtain high quality aerial photographs (2-7 cm/pixel) of an agricultural area up to 50 hectares in one flight. In addition to the unmanned aerial vehicle, the UAS also includes an onboard complex, a payload and a ground control station. The flight group carries out all stages of data acquisition and preprocessing in an automated mode using specialized software. In the course of the experimental studies, the main elements of the considered approach to monitoring drainage systems are highlighted: the period of aerial photography, determination of the pipes and canals schemes, determination of waterlogging zones on agricultural areas and breakdowns of a reclamation system, monitoring in dynamics. As a result, when solving the problem of monitoring drainage reclamation systems, the use of UAS seems to be a relevant and promising approach, which makes it possible to assess the object status promptly.