Testing UAV-derived topography for hydraulic modelling in a tropical environment

M. Mazzoleni, P. Paron, A. Reali, D. Juizo, J. Manane, L. Brandimarte

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

© 2020, The Author(s).The past few years have seen the raise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in geosciences for generating highly accurate digital elevation models (DEM) at low costs, which promises to be an interesting alternative to satellite data for small river basins. The reliability of UAV-derived topography as input to hydraulic modelling is still under investigation: here, we analyse potentialities and highlight challenges of employing UAV-derived topography in hydraulic modelling in a tropical environment, where weather conditions and remoteness of the study area might affect the quality of the retrieved data. We focused on a stretch of the Limpopo River in Mozambique, where detailed ground survey and airborne data were available. First, we tested and compared topographic data derived by UAV (25 cm), RTK-GPS (50 cm DEM), LiDAR (1 m DEM) and SRTM (30 m DEM); then, we used each DEM as input data to a hydraulic model and compared the performance of each DEM-based model against the LiDAR based model, currently used as benchmark by practitioners in the area. Despite the challenges experienced during the field campaign—and described here—, the degree of accuracy in terrain modelling produced errors in water depth calculations within the tolerances adopted in this typology of studies and comparable in magnitude to the ones obtained from high-precision topography models. This suggests that UAV is a promising source of geometric data even in natural environments with extreme weather conditions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)139-163
JournalNatural Hazards
Volume103
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2020
Externally publishedYes

Funding

Open access funding provided by Uppsala University. This research was partly supported by the IHE-Delftt project Limpopo Flood Study and by European Research Council (ERC) within the project “HydroSocialExtremes: Uncovering the Mutual Shaping of Hydrological Extremes and Society”, ERC Consolidator Grant no. 761678, H2020 Excellent Science. Part of this research was also supported by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, Swedish Strategic research programme StandUP for Energy, and the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, CNDS. The authors would like to thank Paulo Sérgio Saveca, Lecturer at ISPG in Gaza Province (Mozambique) for his support during field work. Open access funding provided by Uppsala University. This research was partly supported by the IHE-Delftt project Limpopo Flood Study and by European Research Council (ERC) within the project ?HydroSocialExtremes: Uncovering the Mutual Shaping of Hydrological Extremes and Society?, ERC Consolidator Grant no. 761678, H2020 Excellent Science. Part of this research was also supported by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, Swedish Strategic research programme StandUP for Energy, and the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, CNDS. The authors would like to thank Paulo S?rgio Saveca, Lecturer at ISPG in Gaza Province (Mozambique) for his support during field work.

FundersFunder number
CNDS
Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science
ISPG
H2020 Excellent Science
European Research Council761678
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
Uppsala Universitet

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