Comparing Two Photo-Reconstruction Methods to Produce High Density Point Clouds and DEMs in the Corral del Veleta Rock Glacier (Sierra Nevada, Spain)
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (1)
- to produce dense point clouds and high resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for the Corral del Veleta rock glacier (Sierra Nevada, Spain) by means of two free 3D-PR procedures (a self-implemented stereo feature-based semi-automatic method and a fully automatic method based on the software 123D Catch that uses SfM and MVS algorithms);
- (2)
- to compare and analyze the quality of the point clouds and the DEMs obtained by means of the two 3D-PR methods as compared with a point cloud and a DEM obtained by means of a Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS); and
- (3)
- to evaluate the usefulness of these methods to register changes in the glacier dynamic.
2. Study Area
3. Methodology
3.1. Stereo-Based SIFT Method
3.2. Fully Automatic 3D-PR Software: 123D Catch
3.3. Elaboration of DEMs
- (1)
- a dense network of points is needed to represent faithfully the dynamic of the whole glacier and
- (2)
- points are defined by fixed rods that can be lost with time in this changeable environment.
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Point Cloud Characteristics: Accuracy and Density
4.2. Digital Elevation Models
4.3. Comparison of Techniques
- -
- They require little expertise because the processing is almost automatic [41], mainly in the case of FA method.
- -
- -
- Both techniques are cheaper and less time-consuming as compared to other methods/techniques. In the case of the FA procedure, we would like to highlight that the processing is run in the cloud, therefore the company (Autodesk) will have access to your images. The processing time is reduced but your images need to be uploaded to the company’s servers.
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
- Author ContributionsÁlvaro Gómez-Gutiérrez implemented the research design, performed data analysis and executed the manuscript writing. José Juan de San José-Blasco carried out field work and provided geodesic support in order to georeference the models. Javier de Matías developed the SA method and carried out field work and data processing and analysis. Fernando Berenguer-Sempere carried out field work and TLS data processing and analysis.
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Characteristic | Value-Description |
---|---|
Average altitude of the detritic body (masl) | 3106 |
Aspect | West oriented |
Length (m) | 129.6 m |
Average width (m) | 37.5 |
Average thickness (m) | 8.0 |
Surface area (m2) | 3815 |
Clastic material | Heterometric blocks of feldspathic micaschist (from several m3 to cm3) with coarse matrix and internal fine matrix |
Software | Reference |
---|---|
123D Catch | [52] |
ARC3D | [53] |
Bundler and PMVS2 | [54] |
CMP SfM | [55] |
Photosynth | [56] |
VisualSFM | [57] |
SA-3D-PR | FA-3D-PR | TLS | |
---|---|---|---|
Photos for 3D-PR or stations for TLS (n) | 6 | 6 | 4 |
Number of points (n) | 65820 | 167439 | 4996469 |
Average point spacing (m) | 0.41 | 0.26 | 0.05 |
Average point density (pts·m−2) | 8.09 | 20.58 | 614.19 |
Average distance to TLS cloud (m) | 0.28 | 0.21 | - |
Standard deviation of distances (m) | 0.52 | 0.43 | - |
Maximum Distance to TLS cloud (m) | 4.57 | 2.81 | - |
Relative precision ratio | 1:1071 | 1:1429 | - |
SA-3D-PR | FA-3D-PR | TLS | |
---|---|---|---|
Average Z (m) | 3105.8 | 3105.4 | 3105.9 |
Maximum (m) | 3124.3 | 3123.9 | 3124.9 |
Minimum (m) | 3086.9 | 3088.4 | 3088.9 |
Average abs. difference with TLS DEM (m) | 0.52 | 0.51 | - |
R correlation with TLS | 0.9929 | 0.9981 | 1.0000 |
Hillshade Value | Number of Pixels | Absolute Difference TLS-FA (m) |
---|---|---|
0 | 14,528 | 0.52 |
1–50 | 2896 | 0.54 |
51–100 | 5235 | 0.52 |
101–150 | 4556 | 0.49 |
151–200 | 2907 | 0.47 |
201–253 | 1600 | 0.45 |
254 | 23 | 0.38 |
SA-3D-PR | FA-3D-PR | TLS | |
---|---|---|---|
Capture time | +++ | +++ | + |
Processing time | + | ++ | + |
Cost (equipment) | +++ | +++ | + |
Expertise requirements | + | ++ | + |
Accuracy and quality | + | ++ | +++ |
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Gómez-Gutiérrez, Á.; De Sanjosé-Blasco, J.J.; De Matías-Bejarano, J.; Berenguer-Sempere, F. Comparing Two Photo-Reconstruction Methods to Produce High Density Point Clouds and DEMs in the Corral del Veleta Rock Glacier (Sierra Nevada, Spain). Remote Sens. 2014, 6, 5407-5427. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6065407
Gómez-Gutiérrez Á, De Sanjosé-Blasco JJ, De Matías-Bejarano J, Berenguer-Sempere F. Comparing Two Photo-Reconstruction Methods to Produce High Density Point Clouds and DEMs in the Corral del Veleta Rock Glacier (Sierra Nevada, Spain). Remote Sensing. 2014; 6(6):5407-5427. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6065407
Chicago/Turabian StyleGómez-Gutiérrez, Álvaro, José Juan De Sanjosé-Blasco, Javier De Matías-Bejarano, and Fernando Berenguer-Sempere. 2014. "Comparing Two Photo-Reconstruction Methods to Produce High Density Point Clouds and DEMs in the Corral del Veleta Rock Glacier (Sierra Nevada, Spain)" Remote Sensing 6, no. 6: 5407-5427. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6065407