Modeling Ozark Caves with Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry: An Assessment of Stand-Alone Photogrammetry for 3-Dimensional Cave Survey

Nearly all aspects of karst science and management begin with a map. Yet despite this fact, cave survey is largely conducted in the same archaic way that is has been for years - with a compass, tape measure, and a sketchpad. Traditional cave survey can establish accurate survey lines quickly. However, passage walls, ledges, profiles, and cross-sections are time intensive and ultimately rely on the sketcher’s experience at interpretively hand drawing these features between survey stations. This project endeavors to experiment with photogrammetry as a method of improving on traditional cave survey, while also avoiding some of the major pitfalls of terrestrial laser scanning. The proposed method allows for the creation of 3D models which capture cave wall geometry, important cave formations, as well as providing the ability to create cross sections anywhere desired. The interactive 3D cave models are produced cheaply, with equipment that can be operated in extremely confined, harsh conditions, by unpaid volunteers with little to no technical training. While the rapid advancement of photogrammetric software has led to its use in many 3D modeling applications, there is only a sparse body of research examining the use of photogrammetry as a standalone method for surveying caves. The proposed methodology uses a GoPro camera and a 1000 lumen portable floodlight to capture still images down the length of cave passages. The procedure goes against several traditional rules of thumb, both operating in the dark with a moving light source, as well as utilizing a wide angle, fish eye lens, to capture scene information that is not perpendicular to the camera\u27s field of view. Images are later processed into 3D models using Agisoft’s PhotoScan. Four caves were modeled using the method, with varying levels of success. The best results occurred in dry confined passages, while passages greater than 9 meters (30ft) in width, or those with a great deal of standing water in the floor, produced large holes. An additional experiment occurred in the University of Arkansas utility tunnel

Intensive Archeological Survey for Proposed Improvements to Farm-to-Market Road 664 from Interstate Highway 35E to Interstate Highway 45, Ellis County, Texas

On March 21, 22, and 28, 2019, an intensive archeological survey was completed in order to inventory and evaluate archeological resources within the footprint of proposed Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 664 roadway improvements from Interstate Highway 35E to Interstate Highway 45 in Ellis County, Texas. The project is identified under Texas Department of Transportation control-section-job number 1051- 01-051. The work associated with this archeological survey was carried out under Texas Antiquities Permit 8817 by Brett Lang (Project Archeologist) and Melissa M Green (Principal Investigator) of Cox|McLain Environmental Consulting, Inc. No archeological sites were recorded during the survey. Results of the survey show that a majority of the project corridor has been highly disturbed from modern residential and commercial development, bulldozing associated with the original roadway construction, installation and repair of buried utilities, and natural impacts such as erosion. The area of potential effects comprises 187.4 acres of existing right-of-way, 164.5 acres of proposed right-of-way, and 7.9 acres of permanent easements for a total of 359.8 acres. The bulk of the 359.8- acre footprint was surveyed via visual examination and photography due to extensive previous disturbance, including previous bulldozing associated with the original roadway construction along FM 664, urban expansion, and Hybrid Potential Archeological Liability Map data indicating lack of archeological potential. Of the 164.5 acres of proposed right-of-way and permanent easements 83.9 acres were not pedestrian surveyed due to existing disturbances from residential/commercial activities, agricultural practices, cattle grazing and based on HPALM data, but were recorded through photography. Access was only allowed on 59.1 of the 164.5 acres, leaving 21.5 acres with no access at the time of this survey. A total of 338.3 acres were investigated (pedestrian surveyed and/or photographed only) during this survey. On the 59.1 acres where access was allowed, 40 shovel test units were excavated where right-of-way was granted; survey was not conducted in areas that were physically inaccessible, previously developed, or in standing water. Soils were found to be shallow (generally extending to 40 centimeters below the surface); clay was encountered on the surface and subsurface in most of the shovel tests. All of the shovel tests were sterile and lacked any cultural material. Four backhoe trenches were excavated on the west banks of a tributary of Long Branch Creek on the flood plain, first terrace, and second terrace. The backhoe trenches lacked cultural materials and showed no evidence of buried soils within the undertaking’s area of potential effects. Access was not available to the west bank of Bear Creek; this area will require trenching once right-of-entry is obtained. Backhoe trenching will not be advantageous in other areas along Bear Creek, Long Branch Creek, or the tributary to Long Branch Creek due to steep slopes and/or locations outside the current area of potential effects. No further work is recommended in the 338.3 acres of the area of potential effects that were investigated/surveyed at this time. When access is available for the 21.5 remaining acres recommended for archeological survey, additional survey, including backhoe trenching near Bear Creek, is warranted. If any unanticipated cultural materials or deposits are found at any stage of clearing, preparation, or construction, the work should cease, and the Texas Department of Transportation should be immediately notified. All materials (notes, photographs, administrative documents, and other project data) generated from this work will be housed at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University, where they will be made permanently available to future researchers per 13 Texas Administrative Code 26.16– 17. No artifacts were collected; therefore, none will be curated. The Texas Historical Commission concurred with the findings and recommendations of this report on April 10, 2019

FM 2206 Improvements from State Highway 42 to Loop 281 Gregg County, Texas

Between September 2015 and March 2016, reconnaissance and intensive archeological surveys were completed in order to inventory and evaluate archeological resources within the footprint of proposed improvements to Farm-to-Market (FM) 2206 from State Highway 42 to Loop 281 in Longview, Gregg County, Texas. The project is identified under TxDOT control-section-job numbers 2073-01-009 and 2073-01-010. The work associated with this archeological survey was carried out under Texas Antiquities Permit 7404 by Melissa M. Green (Principal Investigator), Haley Rush, and David Sandrock of Cox|McLain Environmental Consulting, Inc., a subcontractor to Burns and McDonnell. Results of the survey show that the majority of the project corridor has been highly disturbed from numerous types of activities dating from the early oil exploration in the area to recent installation of buried utilities, as well as natural impacts such as erosion. Twenty-nine shovel test units were excavated on both publicly- and privately-owned land in areas where subsurface archeological materials might occur, no obvious impacts or disturbances were observed, slope was less than 30 percent, ground visibility was limited, and moisture levels allowed. Soils were found to be extremely shallow (generally extendingsurface); subsoil was encountered in the majority of the tests. All of the shovel tests were sterile, except for one where an iron pipe was encountered. Three backhoe trenches were excavated on the west side of Hawkins Creek where deeper Holoceneage soils were present that could contain paleosols or archeological deposits. All three backhoe trenches were sterile for cultural materials and none showed evidence of intact paleosols that might contain archeological deposits No further work is recommended in the APE prior to the proposed improvements to FM 2206. If any unanticipated cultural materials or deposits are found at any stage of clearing, preparation, or construction, the work should cease and TxDOT should be immediately notified. All materials (notes, photographs, administrative documents, and other project data) generated from this work will be housed at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University, where they will be made permanently available to future researchers per 13 Texas Administrative Code 26.16- 17. No artifacts were collected and therefore none will be curated

Testing Structure-from-Motion imaging technique to quantify Blue mussels (Mytilus spp.) abundance

Masteroppgave i biologiBIO399MAMN-HAVSJMAMN-BI

Visual Techniques for Geological Fieldwork Using Mobile Devices

Visual techniques in general and 3D visualisation in particular have seen considerable adoption within the last 30 years in the geosciences and geology. Techniques such as volume visualisation, for analysing subsurface processes, and photo-coloured LiDAR point-based rendering, to digitally explore rock exposures at the earth’s surface, were applied within geology as one of the first adopting branches of science. A large amount of digital, geological surface- and volume data is nowadays available to desktop-based workflows for geological applications such as hydrocarbon reservoir exploration, groundwater modelling, CO2 sequestration and, in the future, geothermal energy planning. On the other hand, the analysis and data collection during fieldwork has yet to embrace this ”digital revolution”: sedimentary logs, geological maps and stratigraphic sketches are still captured in each geologist’s individual fieldbook, and physical rocks samples are still transported to the lab for subsequent analysis. Is this still necessary, or are there extended digital means of data collection and exploration in the field ? Are modern digital interpretation techniques accurate and intuitive enough to relevantly support fieldwork in geology and other geoscience disciplines ? This dissertation aims to address these questions and, by doing so, close the technological gap between geological fieldwork and office workflows in geology. The emergence of mobile devices and their vast array of physical sensors, combined with touch-based user interfaces, high-resolution screens and digital cameras provide a possible digital platform that can be used by field geologists. Their ubiquitous availability increases the chances to adopt digital workflows in the field without additional, expensive equipment. The use of 3D data on mobile devices in the field is furthered by the availability of 3D digital outcrop models and the increasing ease of their acquisition. This dissertation assesses the prospects of adopting 3D visual techniques and mobile devices within field geology. The research of this dissertation uses previously acquired and processed digital outcrop models in the form of textured surfaces from optical remote sensing and photogrammetry. The scientific papers in this thesis present visual techniques and algorithms to map outcrop photographs in the field directly onto the surface models. Automatic mapping allows the projection of photo interpretations of stratigraphy and sedimentary facies on the 3D textured surface while providing the domain expert with simple-touse, intuitive tools for the photo interpretation itself. The developed visual approach, combining insight from all across the computer sciences dealing with visual information, merits into the mobile device Geological Registration and Interpretation Toolset (GRIT) app, which is assessed on an outcrop analogue study of the Saltwick Formation exposed at Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK. Although being applicable to a diversity of study scenarios within petroleum geology and the geosciences, the particular target application of the visual techniques is to easily provide field-based outcrop interpretations for subsequent construction of training images for multiple point statistics reservoir modelling, as envisaged within the VOM2MPS project. Despite the success and applicability of the visual approach, numerous drawbacks and probable future extensions are discussed in the thesis based on the conducted studies. Apart from elaborating on more obvious limitations originating from the use of mobile devices and their limited computing capabilities and sensor accuracies, a major contribution of this thesis is the careful analysis of conceptual drawbacks of established procedures in modelling, representing, constructing and disseminating the available surface geometry. A more mathematically-accurate geometric description of the underlying algebraic surfaces yields improvements and future applications unaddressed within the literature of geology and the computational geosciences to this date. Also, future extensions to the visual techniques proposed in this thesis allow for expanded analysis, 3D exploration and improved geological subsurface modelling in general.publishedVersio

Bibliography of geologic studies using imaging radar

Articles concerning imaging studies on the geomorphology, mineralogy, and topology of various landforms are reported. One hundred and ninety citations are listed and an index by National Technical Information service citation number is included. Several illustrations of L-band radar imagery are presented

Rock Art Pilot Project Main Report

A report on the results of a pilot project to investigate the current state of research, conservation, management and presentation of prehistoric rock art in England commissioned by English Heritage from Archaeology Group, School of Conservation Sciences, Bournemouth Unviersity and the Institute of Archaeology, University College Londo

Animation de personnages 3D par le sketching 2D

Free-form animation allows for exaggerated and artistic styles of motions such as stretching character limbs and animating imaginary creatures such as dragons. Creating these animations requires tools flexible enough to shape characters into arbitrary poses, and control motion at any instant in time. The current approach to free-form animation is keyframing: a manual task in which animators deform characters at individual instants in time by clicking-and-dragging individual body parts one at a time. While this approach is flexible, it is challenging to create quality animations that follow high-level artistic principles---as keyframing tools only provide localized control both spatially and temporally. When drawing poses and motions, artists rely on different sketch-based abstractions that help fulfill high-level aesthetic and artistic principles. For instance, animators will draw textit{lines of action} to create more readable and textit{expressive} poses. To coordinate movements, animators will sketch textit{motion abstractions} such as semi-circles and loops to coordinate a bouncing and rolling motions. Unfortunately, these drawing tools are not part of the free-form animation tool set today. The fact that we cannot use the same artistic tools for drawing when animating 3D characters has an important consequence: 3D animation tools are not involved in the creative process. Instead, animators create by first drawing on paper, and only later are 3D animation tools used to fulfill the pose or animation. The reason we do not have these artistic tools (the line of action, and motion abstractions) in the current animation tool set is because we lack a formal understanding relating the character's shape---possible over time---to the drawn abstraction's shape. Hence the main contribution of this thesis is a formal understanding of pose and motion abstractions (line of action and motion abstractions) together with a set of algorithms that allow using these tools in a free-form setting. As a result, the techniques described in this thesis allow exaggerated poses and movements that may include squash and stretch, and can be used with various character morphologies. These pose and animation drafting tools can be extended. For instance, an animator can sketch and compose different layers of motion on top of one another, add twist around strokes, or turning the strokes into elastic ribbons. The main contributions of this thesis are summarized as follows: -The line of action facilitating expressive posing by directly sketching the overall flow of the character's pose. -The space-time curve allowing to draft full coordinated movements with a single stroke---applicable to arbitrary characters. -A fast and robust skeletal line matching algorithm that supports squash-and-stretch. -Elastic lines of action with dynamically constrained bones for driving the motion of a multi-legged character with a single moving 2D line.L'animation expressive permet des styles de mouvements exagerés et artistiques comme l'étirement de parties du corps ou encore l'animation de créatures imaginaires comme un dragon. Créer ce genre d'animation nécessite des outils assez flexible afin de déformer les personnages en des poses quelconques, ainsi que de pouvoir contrôler l'animation à tout moment dans le temps. L'approche acutelle pour l'animation expressive est le keyframing: une approche manuelle avec laquelle les animateurs déforment leur personnage un moment spécifique dans le temps en cliquand et glissant la souris sur une partis spécifique du corps---un à la fois. Malgré le fait que cette approche soit flexible, il est difficile de créer des animations de qualité qui suivent les principes artistiques, puisque le keyframing permet seulement qu'un contrôle local spatiallement et temporellement. Lorsqu'ils dessinent des poses ou des mouvements, les artistes s'appuient sur différentes abstractions sous forme de croquis qui facillitent la réalisation de certain principes artistiques. Par example, certains animateurs dessinent des lignes d'action afin de créer une pose plus lisible et expressive. Afin de coordonner un mouvement, les animateurs vont souvent dessiner des abstractions de mouvement comme des demi-cercles pour des sauts, ou des boucles pour des pirouettes---leur permettant de pratiquer la coordination du mouvement. Malheureusement, ces outils artistiques ne font pas partis de l'ensemble d'outils de keyframing actuelle. Le fait que l'on ne puisse pas employer les même outils artistiques pour animater des personnages 3D a une forte conséquence: les outils d'animation 3D ne sont pas employés dans le processus créatif. Aujourd'hui, les animateurs créent sur du papier et utilisent le keyframing seulement à la fin pour réaliser leur animation. La raison pour laquelle nous n'avons pas ces outils artistiques (ligne d'action, abstractions de mouvement) en animation 3D, est parce qu'il manque une compréhension formelle de ceux-ci qui nous permettrais d'exprimer la forme du personnage---potentiellement au cours du temps---en fonction de la forme de ces croquis. Ainsi la contribution principale de cette thèse est une compréhension formelle et mathématique des abstractions de forme et de mouvement courrament employées par des artistes, ainsi qu'un ensemble d'algorithme qui permet l'utilisation de ces outils artistiques pour créer des animations expressives. C'est-à-dire que les outils développés dans cette thèse permettent d'étirer des parties du corps ainsi que d'animer des personnages de différentes morphologies. J'introduis aussi plusieurs extentions à ces outils. Par example, j'explore l'idée de sculpter du mouvement en permettant à l'artiste de dessigner plusieurs couches de mouvement une par dessus l'autre, de twister en 3D les croquis, ou encore d'animer un croquis ligne comme un élastique. Les contributions principales de cette thèse, aussi résumé ci-dessous: -La ligne d'action facilitant la création de poses expressives en dessinant directement le flow complet du personnage. -La courbe spatio-temporelle qui permet de spécifier un mouvement coordoné complet avec un seul geste (en dessinant une seule courbe), applicable à n'importe quel personnage 3D. -Un algorithme de matching rapide et robuste qui permet du ``squash and stretch''. -La ligne d'action élastique avec des attachements dynamiques à la ligne permettant d'animer un personnages à plusieurs jambes (bras) avec une seule ligne 2D animée

Animation de personnages 3D par le sketching 2D

Free-form animation allows for exaggerated and artistic styles of motions such as stretching character limbs and animating imaginary creatures such as dragons. Creating these animations requires tools flexible enough to shape characters into arbitrary poses, and control motion at any instant in time. The current approach to free-form animation is keyframing: a manual task in which animators deform characters at individual instants in time by clicking-and-dragging individual body parts one at a time. While this approach is flexible, it is challenging to create quality animations that follow high-level artistic principles---as keyframing tools only provide localized control both spatially and temporally. When drawing poses and motions, artists rely on different sketch-based abstractions that help fulfill high-level aesthetic and artistic principles. For instance, animators will draw textit{lines of action} to create more readable and textit{expressive} poses. To coordinate movements, animators will sketch textit{motion abstractions} such as semi-circles and loops to coordinate a bouncing and rolling motions. Unfortunately, these drawing tools are not part of the free-form animation tool set today. The fact that we cannot use the same artistic tools for drawing when animating 3D characters has an important consequence: 3D animation tools are not involved in the creative process. Instead, animators create by first drawing on paper, and only later are 3D animation tools used to fulfill the pose or animation. The reason we do not have these artistic tools (the line of action, and motion abstractions) in the current animation tool set is because we lack a formal understanding relating the character's shape---possible over time---to the drawn abstraction's shape. Hence the main contribution of this thesis is a formal understanding of pose and motion abstractions (line of action and motion abstractions) together with a set of algorithms that allow using these tools in a free-form setting. As a result, the techniques described in this thesis allow exaggerated poses and movements that may include squash and stretch, and can be used with various character morphologies. These pose and animation drafting tools can be extended. For instance, an animator can sketch and compose different layers of motion on top of one another, add twist around strokes, or turning the strokes into elastic ribbons. The main contributions of this thesis are summarized as follows: -The line of action facilitating expressive posing by directly sketching the overall flow of the character's pose. -The space-time curve allowing to draft full coordinated movements with a single stroke---applicable to arbitrary characters. -A fast and robust skeletal line matching algorithm that supports squash-and-stretch. -Elastic lines of action with dynamically constrained bones for driving the motion of a multi-legged character with a single moving 2D line.L'animation expressive permet des styles de mouvements exagerés et artistiques comme l'étirement de parties du corps ou encore l'animation de créatures imaginaires comme un dragon. Créer ce genre d'animation nécessite des outils assez flexible afin de déformer les personnages en des poses quelconques, ainsi que de pouvoir contrôler l'animation à tout moment dans le temps. L'approche acutelle pour l'animation expressive est le keyframing: une approche manuelle avec laquelle les animateurs déforment leur personnage un moment spécifique dans le temps en cliquand et glissant la souris sur une partis spécifique du corps---un à la fois. Malgré le fait que cette approche soit flexible, il est difficile de créer des animations de qualité qui suivent les principes artistiques, puisque le keyframing permet seulement qu'un contrôle local spatiallement et temporellement. Lorsqu'ils dessinent des poses ou des mouvements, les artistes s'appuient sur différentes abstractions sous forme de croquis qui facillitent la réalisation de certain principes artistiques. Par example, certains animateurs dessinent des lignes d'action afin de créer une pose plus lisible et expressive. Afin de coordonner un mouvement, les animateurs vont souvent dessiner des abstractions de mouvement comme des demi-cercles pour des sauts, ou des boucles pour des pirouettes---leur permettant de pratiquer la coordination du mouvement. Malheureusement, ces outils artistiques ne font pas partis de l'ensemble d'outils de keyframing actuelle. Le fait que l'on ne puisse pas employer les même outils artistiques pour animater des personnages 3D a une forte conséquence: les outils d'animation 3D ne sont pas employés dans le processus créatif. Aujourd'hui, les animateurs créent sur du papier et utilisent le keyframing seulement à la fin pour réaliser leur animation. La raison pour laquelle nous n'avons pas ces outils artistiques (ligne d'action, abstractions de mouvement) en animation 3D, est parce qu'il manque une compréhension formelle de ceux-ci qui nous permettrais d'exprimer la forme du personnage---potentiellement au cours du temps---en fonction de la forme de ces croquis. Ainsi la contribution principale de cette thèse est une compréhension formelle et mathématique des abstractions de forme et de mouvement courrament employées par des artistes, ainsi qu'un ensemble d'algorithme qui permet l'utilisation de ces outils artistiques pour créer des animations expressives. C'est-à-dire que les outils développés dans cette thèse permettent d'étirer des parties du corps ainsi que d'animer des personnages de différentes morphologies. J'introduis aussi plusieurs extentions à ces outils. Par example, j'explore l'idée de sculpter du mouvement en permettant à l'artiste de dessigner plusieurs couches de mouvement une par dessus l'autre, de twister en 3D les croquis, ou encore d'animer un croquis ligne comme un élastique. Les contributions principales de cette thèse, aussi résumé ci-dessous: -La ligne d'action facilitant la création de poses expressives en dessinant directement le flow complet du personnage. -La courbe spatio-temporelle qui permet de spécifier un mouvement coordoné complet avec un seul geste (en dessinant une seule courbe), applicable à n'importe quel personnage 3D. -Un algorithme de matching rapide et robuste qui permet du ``squash and stretch''. -La ligne d'action élastique avec des attachements dynamiques à la ligne permettant d'animer un personnages à plusieurs jambes (bras) avec une seule ligne 2D animée