Three-Dimensional Data Acquisition Methods and Their Use in River Levee Topographic Survey

Area of Science:

• Geotechnical Engineering
• Environmental Monitoring
• Remote Sensing

Background:

• Climate change is increasing extreme weather events, leading to greater levee damage and breaches.
• Current levee integrity assessments rely on subjective visual inspections by experienced engineers.
• Quantitative deformation monitoring is needed for early detection of levee abnormalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address limitations of vehicle-mounted laser scanning (MMS) in levee monitoring, specifically blind spots.
• To propose and evaluate a high-altitude laser irradiation method for comprehensive levee surface data acquisition.
• To enable precise detection of levee deformations, including those on the slope and crest.

Main Methods:

• Investigated optimal laser irradiation positions for complete levee surface data capture.
• Developed and implemented a high-altitude laser scanning approach.
• Acquired high-density laser point clouds of the levee structure.

Main Results:

• The high-altitude laser method successfully acquired dense point cloud data covering the entire levee.
• Detailed deformations on both the levee crest and slope were accurately detected.
• This method overcomes the blind spot limitations of traditional vehicle-mounted systems.

Conclusions:

• High-altitude laser scanning provides a practical and effective solution for comprehensive levee integrity monitoring.
• This technique enables quantitative assessment of levee deformations, crucial for risk management.
• Improved levee monitoring contributes to enhanced infrastructure resilience against climate change impacts.