Application of Drone LiDAR Survey for Evaluation of a Long-Term Consolidation Settlement of Large Land Reclamation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this study, the authors conducted an experiment at a sizable land reclamation site using drone LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning for soft ground settlement measurement. In order to get a clean surface point cloud, they regularly used drones to conduct LiDAR surveys. The data was then processed using direct geo-referencing and the elimination of outliers like trees and construction equipment. Then, in order to verify vertical accuracy and forecast settlement as well as consolidation, the authors compared the generated elevation data with ground control data. The authors have demonstrated that the drone LiDAR accuracy appears to be quite effective to monitor settlement across a substantial and remote land reclamation site with soft ground, indicating settlement up to several meters where without a surface measuring installation is limited. As a result, the work is worthy of publication if the remarks listed are taken into account:

 

1-             IMU/AHRS, GNSS/INS, and Dual GNSS/INS are used to determine the location and attitude of the sensor.  So please explain why you choose GNSS/INS. Other types can also be utilized for comparison and to get more precise results.

2-             To ensure the secure and efficient functioning of military drones, for example, it is crucial to comprehend the ceiling restrictions. What are your limitations with regard to the LiDAR processing, and why did you use that data?

3-             Even if the authors have investigated the previous studies I think it is still not clear the gap between the previous studies and the current one. Hence, the authors should clarify the gap between the existing research work and the work you intend to do.

4-             The authors have to clearly state the limitations of their study.

5-             I believe that 3-D figures might be more valuable. For instance, it will improve the paper's strength and give readers an opportunity to draw accurate comparisons. As a result, if possible, use 3-D figures in favor of 2-D ones.

6-             The word "we" is frequently used throughout the paper. In scientific writing, the pronoun "We" must be used with limitations. In other words, it is better to use passive voice. So, kindly make the appropriate adjustments.

7-             Three of the figures—3, 6, and 8—are of poor quality. Replace them with better ones, if possible.

8-             The following articles can be considered and added to the introduction part of the study to improve the quality of the study. 1) Comparison of Unmanned aerial vehicle-LIDAR and Image-based mobile mapping system for assessing road geometry parameters via digital terrain models; 2) BOLD Bio-Inspired Optimized Leader Election for Multiple Drones; 3) Analysis of Wavelet Controller for Robustness in Electronic Differential of Electric Vehicles An Investigation and Numerical Developments; 4) Building construction progress monitoring using unmanned aerial system (UAS), low-cost photogrammetry, and geographic information system (GIS); 5) Design optimization of a fixed wing aircraft.

9-             Finally, some minor typos listed below should be corrected:

- Page 1, line 14, replaces “high potential” with “a high potential”

- Page 1, line 21, replaces “settlement” with “settlements”

- Page 1, lines 22-23, replaces “removal” with “removals”

- Page 1, line 23, replaces “clean surface” with “a clean surface”

- Page 1, line 42, replaces “digitalization” with “the digitalization”

- Page 2, line 47, replaces “earthwork” with “the earthwork”

- Page 2, line 48, replaces “line” with “lines”

- Page 2, line 60, replaces “emission” with “emissions”

- Page 2, line 60, replaces “road” with “roads”

- Page 2, line 64, replaces “drone” with “drones”

- Page 2, line 64, replaces “site” with “sites”

- Page 2, line 65, replaces “benefits” with “the benefits”

- Page 2, line 66, replaces “issue” with “issues”

- Page 2, line 81, replaces “surface” with “the surface”

- Page 4, line 122, replaces “takes measurement of” with “measures”

- Page 4, line 132, replaces “the scan rate up” with “a scan rate up of”

- Page 7, line 167, replaces “ground measured” with “ground-measured”

- Page 9, line 187, replaces “show” with “shows”

- Page 9, line 198, replaces “drone surveyed” with “drone-surveyed”

- Page 10, line 209, replaces “with high” with “with a high”

- Page 11, line 221, replaces “embankment” with “the embankment”

- Page 11, line 223, replaces “drone surveyed” with “drone-surveyed”

- Page 11, line 225, replaces “operation” with “operations”

- Page 11, line 226, replaces “increase in reliability” with “increase reliability”

- Page 11, line 230, replaces “from the long term” with “from long-term”

- Page 11, line 242, replaces “use of” with “the use of”

 

 

The paper has good wording. However, there are a few typos and grammatical mistakes listed above that need to be rectified.

Author Response

Thanks for the kind review.

Enclosed please find the response

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

• Please highlight your contributions in this paper at the end of Sec. 1, and introduced the organization of this paper
• About the methodology, I think the regression method for Long-term settlement prediction is not clear? How do you do that?
• I think the Section 4. Discussion is too weak. I recommend the authors could supply some more in-depth analysis
• The conclusion part is too causal. I recommend the authors could write a paragraph instead of presenting one by one.
• Some references are recommended to cite in this paper:
  • ISPRS21-Growing status observation for oil palm trees using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images (UAV applications)
  • EJRS19-UAV for monitoring the settlement of a landfill (UAV applications for settlement)
  • AS21-Review of some applications of unmanned aerial vehicles technology in the resource-rich country (Review of UAV applications)

Author Response

Thank you for the kind review

Enclosed please find the response

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have considered all comments except two of them. Hence please consider the following comments once again.

 

1- I have already asked that some studies be assessed and cited since the authors directly or indirectly used material from them or because there are pertinent studies that the authors have not considered or cited. Unfortunately, only two of these were taken into account. Think about each of the papers listed: 1) Comparison of Unmanned aerial vehicle-LIDAR and Image-based mobile mapping system for assessing road geometry parameters via digital terrain models; 2) BOLD Bio-Inspired Optimized Leader Election for Multiple Drones; 3) Analysis of Wavelet Controller for Robustness in Electronic Differential of Electric Vehicles An Investigation and Numerical Developments; 4) Building construction progress monitoring using unmanned aerial system (UAS), low-cost photogrammetry, and geographic information system (GIS); 5) Design optimization of a fixed wing aircraft.

 

2- The text is generally well-written, however, there are still a few grammatical and typographical errors. It is advised that the authors proofread and fix them before resubmitting the paper.

None

Author Response

Thanks a lot!

Author Response File: Author Response.doc

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors have addressed all my issues.

Author Response

Thanks a lot!