Remote Sensing methods for power line corridor surveys

AbstractTo secure uninterrupted distribution of electricity, effective monitoring and maintenance of power lines are needed. This literature review article aims to give a wide overview of the possibilities provided by modern remote sensing sensors in power line corridor surveys and to discuss the potential and limitations of different approaches. Monitoring of both power line components and vegetation around them is included. Remotely sensed data sources discussed in the review include synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, optical satellite and aerial images, thermal images, airborne laser scanner (ALS) data, land-based mobile mapping data, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data. The review shows that most previous studies have concentrated on the mapping and analysis of network components. In particular, automated extraction of power line conductors has achieved much attention, and promising results have been reported. For example, accuracy levels above 90% have been presented for the extraction of conductors from ALS data or aerial images. However, in many studies datasets have been small and numerical quality analyses have been omitted. Mapping of vegetation near power lines has been a less common research topic than mapping of the components, but several studies have also been carried out in this field, especially using optical aerial and satellite images. Based on the review we conclude that in future research more attention should be given to an integrated use of various data sources to benefit from the various techniques in an optimal way. Knowledge in related fields, such as vegetation monitoring from ALS, SAR and optical image data should be better exploited to develop useful monitoring approaches. Special attention should be given to rapidly developing remote sensing techniques such as UAVs and laser scanning from airborne and land-based platforms. To demonstrate and verify the capabilities of automated monitoring approaches, large tests in various environments and practical monitoring conditions are needed. These should include careful quality analyses and comparisons between different data sources, methods and individual algorithms

Improving TLS-based stem volume estimates by field measurements

The prediction of tree stem volumes has conventionally been based on simple field measurements and applicable allometric functions, but terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has enabled new opportunities for extracting stem volumes of single trees. TLS-based tree dimensions are commonly estimated by automatized cylinder- or circle-based fitting approaches which, given that the stem cross-sections are relatively round and the whole stem is sufficiently covered by TLS points, enable an accurate prediction of the stem volume. The results are, however, often deteriorated by co-registration errors and occlusions, i.e., incompletely visible parts of the stem, which easily lead to poorly fitted features and problems in locating the actual treetop. As these defects are difficult to be controlled or totally avoided when collecting data at a plot level, taking advantage of additional field measurements is proposed to improve the fitting process and mitigate gross errors in the prediction of stem volumes. In this paper, this is demonstrated by modelling the stems first as cylinders by only using TLS data, after which the results are refined with the assistance of field data. The applied data consists of various field-measured stem dimensions which are used to define the acceptable diameter estimation limits and set the correct vertical extents for the analyzed tree. This approach is tested using two data sets, differing in the scanning setup, location, and the measured field variables. Adding field data improves the results and, at best, enables almost unbiased volumetric predictions with an RMSE of less than 5%. According to these results, combining TLS point clouds and simple field measurements has the potential to produce stem volume information at a considerably higher accuracy than TLS data alone

Is field-measured tree height as reliable as believed A comparison study of tree height estimates from field measurement, airborne laser scanning and terrestrial laser scanning in a boreal forest

Quantitative comparisons of tree height observations from different sources are scarce due to the difficulties in effective sampling. In this study, the reliability and robustness of tree height observations obtained via a conventional field inventory, airborne laser scanning (ALS) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) were investigated. A carefully designed non-destructive experiment was conducted that included 1174 individual trees in 18 sample plots (32 m x 32 m) in a Scandinavian boreal forest. The point density of the ALS data was approximately 450 points/m(2). The TLS data were acquired with multi-scans from the center and the four quadrant directions of the sample plots. Both the ALS and TLS data represented the cutting edge point cloud products. Tree heights were manually measured from the ALS and TLS point clouds with the aid of existing tree maps. Therefore, the evaluation results revealed the capacities of the applied laser scanning (LS) data while excluding the influence of data processing approach such as the individual tree detection. The reliability and robustness of different tree height sources were evaluated through a cross-comparison of the ALS-, TLS-, and field- based tree heights. Compared to ALS and TLS, field measurements were more sensitive to stand complexity, crown classes, and species. Overall, field measurements tend to overestimate height of tall trees, especially tall trees in codominant crown class. In dense stands, high uncertainties also exist in the field measured heights for small trees in intermediate and suppressed crown class. The ALS-based tree height estimates were robust across all stand conditions. The taller the tree, the more reliable was the ALS-based tree height. The highest uncertainty in ALS-based tree heights came from trees in intermediate crown class, due to the difficulty of identifying treetops. When using TLS, reliable tree heights can be expected for trees lower than 15-20 m in height, depending on the complexity of forest stands. The advantage of LS systems was the robustness of the geometric accuracy of the data. The greatest challenges of the LS techniques in measuring individual tree heights lie in the occlusion effects, which lead to omissions of trees in intermediate and suppressed crown classes in ALS data and incomplete crowns of tall trees in TLS data.Peer reviewe

Seamless integration of above- and under-canopy unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanning for forest investigation

BackgroundCurrent automated forest investigation is facing a dilemma over how to achieve high tree- and plot-level completeness while maintaining a high cost and labor efficiency. This study tackles the challenge by exploring a new concept that enables an efficient fusion of aerial and terrestrial perspectives for digitizing and characterizing individual trees in forests through an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that flies above and under canopies in a single operation. The advantage of such concept is that the aerial perspective from the above-canopy UAV and the terrestrial perspective from the under-canopy UAV can be seamlessly integrated in one flight, thus grants the access to simultaneous high completeness, high efficiency, and low cost.ResultsIn the experiment, an approximately 0.5ha forest was covered in ca. 10min from takeoff to landing. The GNSS-IMU based positioning supports a geometric accuracy of the produced point cloud that is equivalent to that of the mobile mapping systems, which leads to a 2-4cm RMSE of the diameter at the breast height estimates, and a 4-7cm RMSE of the stem curve estimates.ConclusionsResults of the experiment suggested that the integrated flight is capable of combining the high completeness of upper canopies from the above-canopy perspective and the high completeness of stems from the terrestrial perspective. Thus, it is a solution to combine the advantages of the terrestrial static, the mobile, and the above-canopy UAV observations, which is a promising step forward to achieve a fully autonomous in situ forest inventory. Future studies should be aimed to further improve the platform positioning, and to automatize the UAV operation.Peer reviewe

Feasibility of Mobile Laser Scanning towards Operational Accurate Road Rut Depth Measurements

This paper studied the applicability of the Roamer-R4DW mobile laser scanning (MLS) system for road rut depth measurement. The MLS system was developed by the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI), and consists of two mobile laser scanners and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-inertial measurement unit (IMU) positioning system. In the study, a fully automatic algorithm was developed to calculate and analyze the rut depths, and verified in 64 reference pavement plots (1.0 m x 3.5 m). We showed that terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data is an adequate reference for MLS-based rutting studies. The MLS-derived rut depths based on 64 plots resulted in 1.4 mm random error, which can be considered adequate precision for operational rutting depth measurements. Such data, also covering the area outside the pavement, would be ideal for multiple road environment applications since the same data can also be used in applications, from high-definition maps to autonomous car navigation and digitalization of street environments over time and in space

Toward utilizing multitemporal multispectral airborne laser scanning, Sentinel-2, and mobile laser scanning in map updating

The rapid development of remote sensing technologies pro-vides interesting possibilities for the further development of nationwide mapping procedures that are currently based mainly on passive aerial images. In particular, we assume that there is a large undiscovered potential in multitemporal airborne laser scanning (ALS) for topographic mapping. In this study, automated change detection from multitemporal multispectral ALS data was tested for the first time. The results showed that direct comparisons between height and intensity data from different dates reveal even small chang-es related to the development of a suburban area. A major challenge in future work is to link the changes with objects that are interesting in map production. In order to effectively utilize multisource remotely sensed data in mapping in the future, we also investigated the potential of satellite images and ground-based data to complement multispectral ALS. A method for continuous change monitoring from a time series of Sentinel-2 satellite images was developed and tested. Finally, a high-density point cloud was acquired with terres-trial mobile laser scanning and automatically classified into four classes. The results were compared with the ALS data, and the possible roles of the different data sources in a fu-ture map updating process were discussed

A Clustering Framework for Monitoring Circadian Rhythm in Structural Dynamics in Plants from Terrestrial Laser Scanning Time Series

Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) can be used to monitor plant dynamics with a frequency of several times per hour and with sub-centimeter accuracy, regardless of external lighting conditions. TLS point cloud time series measured at short intervals produce large quantities of data requiring fast processing techniques. These must be robust to the noise inherent in point clouds. This study presents a general framework for monitoring circadian rhythm in plant movements from TLS time series. Framework performance was evaluated using TLS time series collected from two Norway maples (Acer platanoides) and a control target, a lamppost. The results showed that the processing framework presented can capture a plant's circadian rhythm in crown and branches down to a spatial resolution of 1 cm. The largest movements in both Norway maples were observed before sunrise and at their crowns' outer edges. The individual cluster movements were up to 0.17 m (99th percentile) for the taller Norway maple and up to 0.11 m (99th percentile) for the smaller tree from their initial positions before sunset

Seamless integration of above- and under-canopy unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanning for forest investigation

BackgroundCurrent automated forest investigation is facing a dilemma over how to achieve high tree- and plot-level completeness while maintaining a high cost and labor efficiency. This study tackles the challenge by exploring a new concept that enables an efficient fusion of aerial and terrestrial perspectives for digitizing and characterizing individual trees in forests through an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that flies above and under canopies in a single operation. The advantage of such concept is that the aerial perspective from the above-canopy UAV and the terrestrial perspective from the under-canopy UAV can be seamlessly integrated in one flight, thus grants the access to simultaneous high completeness, high efficiency, and low cost.ResultsIn the experiment, an approximately 0.5ha forest was covered in ca. 10min from takeoff to landing. The GNSS-IMU based positioning supports a geometric accuracy of the produced point cloud that is equivalent to that of the mobile mapping systems, which leads to a 2-4cm RMSE of the diameter at the breast height estimates, and a 4-7cm RMSE of the stem curve estimates.ConclusionsResults of the experiment suggested that the integrated flight is capable of combining the high completeness of upper canopies from the above-canopy perspective and the high completeness of stems from the terrestrial perspective. Thus, it is a solution to combine the advantages of the terrestrial static, the mobile, and the above-canopy UAV observations, which is a promising step forward to achieve a fully autonomous in situ forest inventory. Future studies should be aimed to further improve the platform positioning, and to automatize the UAV operation

A Clustering Framework for Monitoring Circadian Rhythm in Structural Dynamics in Plants From Terrestrial Laser Scanning Time Series

Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) can be used to monitor plant dynamics with a frequency of several times per hour and with sub-centimeter accuracy, regardless of external lighting conditions. TLS point cloud time series measured at short intervals produce large quantities of data requiring fast processing techniques. These must be robust to the noise inherent in point clouds. This study presents a general framework for monitoring circadian rhythm in plant movements from TLS time series. Framework performance was evaluated using TLS time series collected from two Norway maples (Acer platanoides) and a control target, a lamppost. The results showed that the processing framework presented can capture a plant's circadian rhythm in crown and branches down to a spatial resolution of 1 cm. The largest movements in both Norway maples were observed before sunrise and at their crowns' outer edges. The individual cluster movements were up to 0.17 m (99th percentile) for the taller Norway maple and up to 0.11 m (99th percentile) for the smaller tree from their initial positions before sunset