Calibration and accuracy assessment of Leica ScanStation C10 terrestrial laser scanner

Requirement of high accuracy data in surveying applications has made calibration procedure a standard routine for all surveying instruments. This is due to the assumption that all observed data are impaired with errors. Thus, this routine is also applicable to terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) to make it available for surveying purposes. There are two calibration approaches: (1) component, and (2) system calibration. With the intention to specifically identify the errors and accuracy of the Leica ScanStation C10 scanner, this study investigates component calibration. Three components of calibration were performed to identify the constant, scale error, accuracy of angular measurement and the effect of angular resolution for distance measurement. The first calibration has been processed using closed least square solutions and has yielded the values of constant (1.2 mm) and scale error (1.000008879). Using variance ratio test (F-Test), angles observation (horizontal and vertical) for Leica C10 scanner and Leica TM5100A theodolite have shown significance difference. This is because the accuracy of both sensors are not similar and these differences are 0.01 and 0.0075º for horizontal and vertical measurements, respectively. Investigation on the resolution setting for Leica C10 scanner has highlighted the drawback of the tilt-and-turn target. Using the highest resolution, Leica Cyclone software only able to recognize the tilt-and-turn target up to 10 m distance compare to 200 m for the black and white target

Lidar In Coastal Storm Surge Modeling: Modeling Linear Raised Features

A method for extracting linear raised features from laser scanned altimetry (LiDAR) datasets is presented. The objective is to automate the method so that elements in a coastal storm surge simulation finite element mesh might have their edges aligned along vertical terrain features. Terrain features of interest are those that are high and long enough to form a hydrodynamic impediment while being narrow enough that the features might be straddled and not modeled if element edges are not purposely aligned. These features are commonly raised roadbeds but may occur due to other manmade alterations to the terrain or natural terrain. The implementation uses the TauDEM watershed delineation software included in the MapWindow open source Geographic Information System to initially extract watershed boundaries. The watershed boundaries are then examined computationally to determine which sections warrant inclusion in the storm surge mesh. Introductory work towards applying image analysis techniques as an alternate means of vertical feature extraction is presented as well. Vertical feature lines extracted from a LiDAR dataset for Manatee County, Florida are included in a limited storm surge finite element mesh for the county and Tampa Bay. Storm surge simulations using the ADCIRC-2DDI model with two meshes, one which includes linear raised features as element edges and one which does not, verify the usefulness of the method

AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION OF RIVERS IN SATELLITE IMAGES USING GEOMETRIC ACTIVE CONTOURS

This work aims to define and test a method for the extraction of rivers in orbital images for regions that are seasonally flooded, ie, large areas containing more water bodies besides the river, such as Pantanal. In the proposed methodology, several tools from the area of Image Analysis and Computer Vision have been employed, performing a preprocessing, followed by a topological modeling that is built upon a skeletonization process followed by an analysis of this skeleton. Lastly, the methodology selects structure that represents the river, by performing a topological filtering. This process is responsible for the selection of points that initiate the process of delineation of rivers using a geometric active contour method, called .Level Set Method.. The methodology was evaluated qualitatively (visual) and quantitatively (numerical) using the criteria of completeness and correctness in a series of real images of the Pantanal region. The edges extracted from rivers, were projected onto the original images, thus allowing a qualitative assessment. With respect to the numerical results for the criteria of completeness and correctness, these were always above 80%, which shows that the methodology is very effective and robust for the community that needs to perform feature extraction in remote sensing image

A Source-to-Sink Analysis of the Pantanal Basin (Brazil): Implications for Weathering, Erosion, and Landscape Evolution in the World\u27s Largest Wetland

Large back-bulge retro-arc basins have limited information about the sediment composition, yet they comprise important parts of the stratigraphic rock record. The exorheic Pantanal Basin is the world\u27s largest continental wetland that regulates many valuable ecosystem services (water storage, nutrient cycling, agriculture, ranching, tourism, and transportation). This dissertation is composed of three studies that utilize a suite of tools to examine the most fundamental basin-wide source-to-sink sediment processes and controls that affect the characteristics and distribution of modern sediments. The first paper consists of a metadata analysis of 76 shallow tropical floodplain lakes in the literature with bathymetric data and age models developed from 210Pb, 14C, or optically stimulated luminescence. The assessment revealed an exponential increase in sediment accumulation rate since the 1960s, sometimes by as much as an order of magnitude compared to the historical sedimentation. Short-term sedimentation showed that the average lake infill time is 100-1,000 years, well within the time span of a few human generations. We highlighted the importance of lake bathymetry surveys because computing lake volume based on average depth tends to overestimate the true volume of the lake. Tropical lakes with steeper slopes and higher population density are at risk of more rapid infill rates, which implies accelerating sedimentation rates resulting from anthropogenic land use change. The second paper presents a petrographic investigation of 97 modern fluvial sands across the Pantanal, coupled with a pour point analysis for each sampling station. The sands were prepared as grain mount thin sections, and 500 grains were counted for every sample following the Gazzi-Dickinson point counting method. We defined six provenance regions across the Pantanal Basin: lowlands, Amazon craton, Rio Apa craton, plateau, Southern Paraguay Belt, and Northern Paraguay Belt. The most commonly occurring grain was non-orogenic quartzose detritus (%Quartz\Feldspar\Lithic 88\5\7). Lithic grains were most concentrated in rivers draining the Paraguay Belt highlands, whereas K-feldspars were frequently observed in sands in rivers of the Rio Apa craton. Finer K-feldspar sands were found in the medial Taquari River megafan caused by channel avulsion and exhumation of more feldspar-rich floodplain deposits. The main control on sand is bedrock lithology, followed by mean annual precipitation. The third paper is a study of the mineralogy and geochemistry of 74 distinct modern fluvial clays in the Pantanal Basin to assess the controls on clay composition. We used wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence to measure major elemental abundance in silt + clay samples, and we used X-ray diffraction to obtain semi-quantitative clay proportions. The abundance of clay is as follows: kaolinite \u3e vermiculite \u3e illite \u3e smectite. We identified the Taquari River weathering hinge, where kaolinite is most abundant in northern Pantanal muds and vermiculite is most abundant in southern Pantanal muds. The controls on clay compositions are as follows: hydroclimate \u3e soils \u3e lithology. The geochemistry of the silt + clay reveals the influence of quartz addition from parent rocks. In the context of the Plata River watershed, the kaolinite-dominant fluvial clays from the Pantanal Basin are diluted by illite-dominant clays from the sub-Andean foreland basin

Classification of river morphology and hydrology to support management and restoration

The work leading to this paper has received funding from the European Union’s FP7 programme under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM

Shuttle imaging radar-C science plan

The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) mission will yield new and advanced scientific studies of the Earth. SIR-C will be the first instrument to simultaneously acquire images at L-band and C-band with HH, VV, HV, or VH polarizations, as well as images of the phase difference between HH and VV polarizations. These data will be digitally encoded and recorded using onboard high-density digital tape recorders and will later be digitally processed into images using the JPL Advanced Digital SAR Processor. SIR-C geologic studies include cold-region geomorphology, fluvial geomorphology, rock weathering and erosional processes, tectonics and geologic boundaries, geobotany, and radar stereogrammetry. Hydrology investigations cover arid, humid, wetland, snow-covered, and high-latitude regions. Additionally, SIR-C will provide the data to identify and map vegetation types, interpret landscape patterns and processes, assess the biophysical properties of plant canopies, and determine the degree of radar penetration of plant canopies. In oceanography, SIR-C will provide the information necessary to: forecast ocean directional wave spectra; better understand internal wave-current interactions; study the relationship of ocean-bottom features to surface expressions and the correlation of wind signatures to radar backscatter; and detect current-system boundaries, oceanic fronts, and mesoscale eddies. And, as the first spaceborne SAR with multi-frequency, multipolarization imaging capabilities, whole new areas of glaciology will be opened for study when SIR-C is flown in a polar orbit

Third Earth Resources Technology Satellite Symposium. Volume 3: Discipline summary reports

Presentations at the conference covered the following disciplines: (1) agriculture, forestry, and range resources; (2) land use and mapping; (3) mineral resources, geological structure, and landform surveys; (4) water resources; (5) marine resources; (6) environment surveys; and (7) interpretation techniques

Technical Procedures for the Watershed Erosion Assessments

This report mentions a preliminary stream reconnaissance that has been performed on Waller Creek.Waller Creek Working Grou

Towards a rational design of gravel media water treatment filters: MRI investigation of the spatial heterogeneity in pollutant particle accumulation

Gravel filters are potentially a low cost, low maintenance water treatment solution. They require no mechanical or electrical parts and can operate without the addition of chemicals or the need for close supervision. As such, they are an appropriate technology for treating road runoff as a component of Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) and as an initial stage of drinking water treatment in rural areas. However, the processes by which pollutant particles are removed in gravel filters are poorly understood and practical experience shows that many filters fail long before their expected design life is reached. For this reason gravel filters are little used for drinking water treatment and, when they are incorporated into SuDS, their removal efficiency and maintenance requirements are unpredictable. The aim of this thesis was to better understand particle removal processes and the implications for gravel filter design. This was achieved through a combination of lab-based experiments and numerical modelling. • The change in conservative tracer transport characteristics with pollutant particle accumulation was assessed through column experiments. • The spatial heterogeneity of particle accumulation was measured by collecting 3D data with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Multiple scans of filters allowed the temporal evolution of particle accumulation to be assessed. A method for processing the raw MRI data to yield the change in 3D pore geometry was developed, assessed and applied. • A simple method for extracting and comparing pore network characteristics at different stages of particle accumulation was applied to the MRI derived geometry. • Direct modelling of the 3D MRI pore geometry with the open source software OpenFOAM allowed correlation of flow velocities with particle accumulation at each point in the pore network. Lagrangian particle tracking was used to simulate the transport of a conservative tracer through the filter. Key findings were that spatial heterogeneity in particle accumulation was influenced by both initial pore geometry and the temporal evolution of the pore network with accumulation. This was attributed to the formation of high velocity preferential flow paths that were evident in both the 3D MRI data and the numerical model of that data. Pore networks exhibited a decrease in connectivity with accumulation and this was mirrored by a decrease in the volume of the filter that was accessible to a conservative tracer. Conclusions of this thesis are that MRI is a useful tool for non-invasively assessing the spatial variability of clogging in gravel filters and, when combined with numerical modelling of the pore geometry, for establishing the link between pore velocity and particle removal. The formation of preferential flow paths is detrimental to the pollutant removal efficiency of a filter and could explain why many filters fail to produce good quality effluent well before their physical pollutant storage capacity is reached

Functional Brain Organization in Space and Time

The brain is a network functionally organized at many spatial and temporal scales. To understand how the brain processes information, controls behavior and dynamically adapts to an ever-changing environment, it is critical to have a comprehensive description of the constituent elements of this network and how relationships between these elements may change over time. Decades of lesion studies, anatomical tract-tracing, and electrophysiological recording have given insight into this functional organization. Recently, however, resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has emerged as a powerful tool for whole-brain non-invasive measurement of spontaneous neural activity in humans, giving ready access to macroscopic scales of functional organization previously much more difficult to obtain. This thesis aims to harness the unique combination of spatial and temporal resolution provided by functional MRI to explore the spatial and temporal properties of the functional organization of the brain. First, we establish an approach for defining cortical areas using transitions in correlated patterns of spontaneous BOLD activity (Chapter 2). We then propose and apply measures of internal and external validity to evaluate the credibility of the areal parcellation generated by this technique (Chapter 3). In chapter 4, we extend the study of functional brain organization to a highly sampled individual. We describe the idiosyncratic areal and systems-level organization of the individual relative to a standard group-average description. Further, we develop a model describing the reliability of BOLD correlation estimates across days that accounts for relevant sources of variability. Finally, in Chapter 5, we examine whether BOLD correlations meaningfully vary over the course of single resting-state scans