A new GIS-compatible methodology for visibility analysis in digital surface models of earth sites

As a GIS tool,visibility analysis is used in many areas to evaluate both visible and non-visible places.Visibility analysis builds on a digital surface model describing the terrain morphology,including the position and shapes of all objects that can sometimes act as visibility barriers.However,some barriers,for example vegetation,may be permeable to a certain degree.Despite extensive research and use of visibility analysis in different areas,standard GIS tools do not take permeability into account.This article presents a new method to calculate visibility through partly permeable obstacles.The method is based on a quasi-Monte Carlo simulation with 100 iterations of visibility calculation.Each iteration result represents 1%of vegetation permeability,which can thus range from 1%to 100%visibility behind vegetation obstacles.The main advantage of the method is greater accuracy of visibility results and easy implementation on any GIS software.The incorporation of the proposed method in GIS software would facilitate work in many fields,such as architecture,archaeology,radio communication,and the military.

A TECHNIQUE OF DIGITAL SURFACE MODEL GENERATION

It is usually a time-consuming process to real-time set up 3D digital surface model(DSM) of an object with complex surface.On the basis of the architectural survey project of"Chilin Nunnery Reconstruction",this paper investigates an easy and feasible way,that is,on project site,applying digital close range photogrammetry and CAD technique to establish the DSM for simulating ancient architectures with complex surface.The method has been proved very effective in practice.

An Adaptive and Image-guided Fusion for Stereo Satellite Image Derived Digital Surface Models

The accuracy of Digital Surface Models(DSMs)generated using stereo matching methods varies due to the varying acquisition conditions and configuration parameters of stereo images.It has been a good practice to fuse these DSMs generated from various stereo pairs to achieve enhanced,in which multiple DSMs are combined through computational approaches into a single,more accurate,and complete DSM.However,accurately characterizing detailed objects and their boundaries still present a challenge since most boundary-ware fusion methods still struggle to achieve sharpened depth discontinuities due to the averaging effects of different DSMs.Therefore,we propose a simple and efficient adaptive image-guided DSM fusion method that applies k-means clustering on small patches of the orthophoto to guide the pixel-level fusion adapted to the most consistent and relevant elevation points.The experiment results show that our proposed method has outperformed comparing methods in accuracy and the ability to preserve sharpened depth edges.

Using UAVs for detection of trees from digital surface models

A difficult problem in forestry is tree inventory.In this study, a GoProHero attached to a small unmanned aerial vehicle was used to capture images of a small area covered by pinus pinea trees. Then, a digital surface model was generated with image matching. The elevation model representing the terrain surface, a ‘digital terrain model’,was extracted from the digital surface model using morphological filtering. Individual trees were extracted by analyzing elevation flow on the digital elevation model because the elevation reached the highest value on the tree peaks compared to the neighborhood elevation pixels. The quality of the results was assessed by comparison with reference data for correctness of the estimated number of trees. The tree heights were calculated and evaluated with ground truth dataset. The results showed 80% correctness and 90% completeness.

Study on the Digital Manufacturing System of Ship Model Surface

Because a ship model surface (SMS) is a large double-curved 3-D surface,the machining efficiency of the cur- rent handcraft manufacturing method are very low,and the precision is difficult to control also.In order to greatly improve the machining efficiency and precision of SMS,based on the CAD/CAM/CNC technology,this paper proposed a model of SMS digi- tal manufacturing system,which is composed of five functional modules (preprocess module,CAD module,CAM module,post- process module and CNC module),and a twin-skeg SMS as an example,the key technologies & design principle of the nodtules were investigated also Based on the above research works,the first set of 4-axis SMS Digital Manufacturing System in China has been successfully developed,which can reduce the machining time of the twin-skeg SMS from 30 working days needed for the cur- rent handcrafting manufacturing method to 8 hours now,and which can control more effectively the precision of SMS also.

Primary safe criterion of earth-brushing flight for flying vehicle over digital surface model

In modern terrain-following guidance it is an important index for flight vehicle to cruise about safely and normally. On the basis of a constructing method of digital surface model (DSM), the definition, classification and scale analysis of an isolated obstacle threatening flight safety of terrain-following guidance are made. When the interval of vertical-and cross-sections on DSM is 12. 5 m, the proportion of isolated obstacles to the data amount of DSM model to be loaded is optimal. The main factors influencing the lowest flying height in terrain-following guidance are analyzed, and a primary safe criterion of the lowest flying height over DSM model is proposed. According to their test errors, the lowest flying height over 1:10 000 DSM model can reach 40. 5 m^45. 0 m in terrain-following guidance. It is shown from the simulation results of a typical urban district that the proposed models and methods are reasonable and feasible.

Evaluating the Impacts of Using Different Digital Surface Models to Estimate Forest Height with TanDEM-X Interferometric Coherence Data

In our previous studies, we demonstrated the usefulness of TanDEM-X interferometric bistatic mode with single polarization to obtain forest heights for the purposes of large area mapping. A key feature of our approach has been the use of a simplified Random Volume Over Ground(RVOG) model that locally estimates forest height. The model takes TanDEM-X interferometric coherence amplitude as an input and uses an external Digital Surface Model(DSM) to account for local slope variations due to terrain topography in order to achieve accurate forest height estimation. The selection of DSM for use as a local slope reference is essential, as an inaccurate DSM will result in less accurate terrain-correction and forest height estimation. In this paper, we assessed TanDEM-X height estimates associated with scale variations in different DSMs used in the model over a remote sensing supersite in Petawawa, Canada. The DSMs used for assessments and comparisons included ASTER GDEM, ALOS GDSM, airborne DRAPE DSM, Canadian DSM and TanDEM-X DSM. Airborne Laser Scanning(ALS) data were used as reference for terrain slope and forest height comparisons. The results showed that, with the exception of the ASTER GDEM, all DSMs were sufficiently accurate for the simplified RVOG model to provide a satisfactory estimate of stand-level forest height. When compared to the ALS 95th height percentile, the modeled forest heights had R2 values greater than 80% and Root-Mean-Square Errors(RMSE)less than 2 m. For a close similarity in slope estimation with the ALS reference, coverage across Canada and open data access, the 0.75 arc-second(20 m) resolution Canadian DSM was selected as a preferred choice for the simplified RVOG model to provide TanDEM-X height estimation in Canada.

Three-Dimensional TIN Algorithm for Digital Terrain Modeling

The problem of taking an unorganized point cloud in 3D space and fitting a polyhedral surface to those points is both important and difficult. Aiming at increasing applications of full three dimensional digital terrain surface modeling, a new algorithm for the automatic generation of three dimensional triangulated irregular network from a point cloud is pro- posed. Based on the local topological consistency test, a combined algorithm of constrained 3D Delaunay triangulation and region-growing is extended to ensure topologically correct reconstruction. This paper also introduced an efficient neighbor- ing triangle location method by making full use of the surface normal information. Experimental results prove that this algo- rithm can efficiently obtain the most reasonable reconstructed mesh surface with arbitrary topology, wherein the automati- cally reconstructed surface has only small topological difference from the true surface. This algorithm has potential applica- tions to virtual environments, computer vision, and so on.

Numerical Calculation of Channel Dredging Volume Using 3D Digital Stratum Model

Prediction of channel dredging volume is critical for project cost estimation. However, many proposed approximate methods are not accurate. This paper presents a novel numerical method to accurately calculate the dredg- ing volume using a 3D stratum model (DSM) and a channel surface model. First, the 3D DSM is constructed rapidly yet accurately from non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) surfaces through Boolean operation between a physical terrain model and a stratum surfaces model. Then, a parametric channel surface model is built from cross-section data and a channel center line using code implemented in the VC++ programming language. Finally, the volumes of different types of physical stratums can be calculated automatically and hierarchically to determine the dredging volume. Practical application shows that the DSM method is more precise and faster compared to the section method, and that the implementation of the developed software provides an interactive graphical user interface and visual presentation.

Facets of Uncertainty in Digital Elevation and Slope Modeling

This paper investigates the differences that result from applying different approaches to uncertainty modeling and reports an experimental examining error estimation and propagation in elevation and slope, with the latter derived from the former. It is confirmed that significant differences exist between uncertainty descriptors, and propagation of uncertainty to end products is immensely affected by the specification of source uncertainty.

基于DSM的城市公园对PM_(2.5)和PM_(10)的消减特征研究——以南昌市人民公园为例

【目的】PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)等空气颗粒物是城市空气首要污染物,在城市空气污染中占主导地位。了解固定外源下PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)在城市绿地的消减特征,可为城市阻控空气颗粒物、缓解空气污染提供有利依据。然而目前空气颗粒物的研究大多以点测定方式量化空间结构及植被类型对空气颗粒物的影响,对固定外源污染下PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)在城市绿地空间尺度上的影响机制研究较少。【方法】研究结合DSM与地统计学,以南昌市人民公园为例,探索城市公园阻隔外源污染的空间梯度效应及空间结构类型差异。利用克里金插值法对其空间分布特征进行可视化模拟;利用Arcgis和R语言等软件分析不同空间结构PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)的浓度差异。【结果】人民公园PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)的浓度在空间分布上趋势一致,均表现为以固定外源点为核心,浓度随距离增加呈极显著梯度递减的趋势,且在中部(约距外源点150~220 m处)消减效率最高,约为全园PM_(2.5)平均消减值的7.5倍,PM_(10)平均消减值的3.8倍;PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)受多种因子影响:与空气温度、距离(主导因子)显著负相关、与相对湿度显著正相关,且PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)对不同因子响应特征存在差异;城市公园不同绿地空间结构对PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)的消减及扩散作用差异显著,受其双重影响,PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)的浓度表现为水体>广场>树林>草坪,其中PM_(2.5)受影响更显著;此外,受各因子和绿地空间结构耦合影响,部分区域PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)分布异常。【结论】以固定外源点为核心,PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)浓度随距离增加呈极显著梯度递减的趋势,且在中部消减效率最高;PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)浓度与相对湿度显著正相关,与空气温度与距离显著负相关,其中PM_(10)对距离和相对湿度响应较为明显,而PM_(2.5)受空气温度影响较大;在随距离变化基础上,不同城市绿地空间结构对PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)消减和扩散作用差异导致了局部分布差异。

联合无人机影像生成DSM和DOM的多层次建筑物变化检测

随着我国城镇化水平的不断提高,城镇建筑物日新月异,及时、准确地掌握城镇建筑物的变化信息对城镇管理、违章建筑查处及灾害评估有着重要意义。该文提出了一种联合无人机影像生成数字表面模型(digital surface model,DSM)和正射影像(digital orthophoto map,DOM)的多层次建筑物变化检测方法,主要包括4个步骤:①对无人机影像生成的密集点云和DOM进行预处理,生成差分归一化DSM(differential normalized DSM,dnDSM)并提取植被区域;②利用多层高差阈值提取候选变化区域,并在此过程中剔除植被及面积较小区域;③对低层候选变化区域进行连通域分析,对于每个连通对象,利用其较高层的变化检测结果剔除低层中的误检测;④统计每个变化对象的正、负高差值数量关系,确定变化类型。实验结果表明,该文方法不但能够保留较低高差阈值检测到的低矮变化建筑物,而且能够保证高大变化建筑物的正确性、完整性。

A Comparative Study of Digital Terrain Data for Visibility Analysis in the Planning and Management of Scenic Resources

A DEM （digital elevation model） was once used to calculate viewsheds in the early days of GIS applications. The emergence of LiDAR （light detection and ranging） data which are likely to have higher spatial resolutions than traditional DEMs contributed to the improvements of calculation accuracy greatly. The objective of this study is to validate that the LiDAR data calculate and predict a viewshed better than the traditional low-resolution DEMs with 10 m and 30 m spatial resolutions. Using digital terrain data acquired for part of the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho, calculation accuracy for viewsheds was scrutinized in depth. Four hundred and eighty four （484） observation points were selected randomly to compute viewsheds from the 1-m pixel, bare-earth LiDAR data and from the traditional 10 m and 30 m DEMs. The comparison of their RMSEs （root-mean-squared-error） values proves the newer generation of digital terrain data produces more accurate viewsheds than ones generated from the traditional DEMs. Analyses of variance and t-tests show the viewsheds calculated from various terrain models are statistically different. Therefore, findings from this study suggest that high-quality LiDAR data, if available, should be used for decision-making in planning for and the management of the scenic resources.

CHM与DSM相结合的无人机激光雷达单木分割

【目的】提出一种冠层高度模型(CHM)与数字表面模型(DSM)相结合的单木分割方法,以解决无人机激光雷达提取地形坡度较大区域CHM时因树冠形变导致单木分割精度降低的问题。【方法】利用无人机激光雷达数据,在福建省顺昌县洋口林场地形起伏较大的中、高郁闭度杉木人工林中选择中龄林和幼龄林各3块标准地,结合地面实测数据和目视解译方法,对CHM与DSM相结合(优化方法)的4种窗口的局部最大值法的树顶点探测和极值标记的分水岭算法的单木分割进行精度评价,并与仅基于CHM的传统方法的树顶点探测和单木分割进行对比分析。【结果】树顶点探测方面,随着窗口增大,每块样地探测的单木总数量和探测百分比均呈下降趋势;中龄林3块样地的最佳窗口为0.3 m,幼龄林3块样地的最佳窗口为0.2 m,此时6块样地1∶1对应关系的单木数量和生产者精度均最大;在相应最佳窗口条件下,仅基于CHM的局部最大值法因树冠形变存在容易产生单木多树顶点探测现象,传统方法的单木探测百分比高于优化方法,但传统方法的树顶点探测精度低于优化方法。幼龄林的树顶点探测精度高于中龄林,这是因为幼龄林样地冠幅和单木相邻距离更一致,更适应固定窗口的局部最大值法。单木分割方面,优化方法的单木分割精度高于传统方法,幼龄林的单木分割精度高于中龄林。【结论】局部最大值法的树顶点探测和分水岭算法的单木分割直接数据源为DSM,是树冠表面真实起伏状况的反映,没有树冠形变,研究结果为更真实的树顶点和单木树冠边界。CHM与DSM相结合的单木分割方法在中、高郁闭度杉木人工中、幼林中分割精度较高(6块样地探测率r均大于88%,准确率p均大于92%,F得分均大于91%),将该方法集成在ArcGIS模型构建器中,可为精准化、自动化、集成化的无人机激光雷达单木分割应用提供可能。

从多视角卫星图像生成准确DSM的方法研究

神经辐射场(NeRF)已成为一种新兴的三维重建方法,然而由于缺乏几何约束,其在多视角卫星摄影测量中的应用很难获得准确的数字表面模型(DSM)。为解决这个问题,文中提出了通过几何约束神经辐射场(GC-NeRF)从多视角卫星图像生成准确的DSM,其关键是针对卫星相机视点分布紧密的特征设计一个几何损失项,可以通过促使表面更薄来约束场景的几何结构,极大地提高了生成DSM的准确性。在WorldView-3卫星图像上的实验表明,GC-NeRF可以利用多视角卫星图像生成更精确的DSM。

Digital surface model applied to unmanned aerial vehicle based photogrammetry to assess potential biotic or abiotic effects on grapevine canopies

Accurate data acquisition and analysis to obtain crop canopy information are critical steps to understand plant growth dynamics and to assess the potential impacts of biotic or abiotic stresses on plant development.A versatile and easy to use monitoring system will allow researchers and growers to improve the follow-up management strategies within farms once potential problems have been detected.This study reviewed existing remote sensing platforms and relevant information applied to crops and specifically grapevines to equip a simple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)using a visible high definition RGB camera.The objective of the proposed Unmanned Aerial System(UAS)was to implement a Digital Surface Model(DSM)in order to obtain accurate information about the affected or missing grapevines that can be attributed to potential biotic or abiotic stress effects.The analysis process started with a three-dimensional(3D)reconstruction from the RGB images collected from grapevines using the UAS and the Structure from Motion(SfM)technique to obtain the DSM applied on a per-plant basis.Then,the DSM was expressed as greyscale images according to the halftone technique to finally extract the information of affected and missing grapevines using computer vision algorithms based on canopy cover measurement and classification.To validate the automated method proposed,each grapevine row was visually inspected within the study area.The inspection was then compared to the digital assessment using the proposed UAS in order to validate calculations of affected and missing grapevines for the whole studied vineyard.Results showed that the percentage of affected and missing grapevines was 9.5%and 7.3%,respectively from the area studied.Therefore,for this specific study,the abiotic stress that affected the experimental vineyard(frost)impacted a total of 16.8%of plants.This study provided a new method for automatically surveying affected or missing grapevines in the field and an evaluation tool for plant growth conditions,which can be implemented for other uses such as canopy management,irrigation scheduling and other precision agricultural applications.

Assessment of canopy vigor information from kiwifruit plants based on a digital surface model from unmanned aerial vehicle imagery

Information about canopy vigor and growth are critical to assess the potential impacts of biotic or abiotic stresses on plant development.By implementing a Digital Surface Model(DSM)to imagery obtained using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV),it is possible to filter canopy information effectively based on height,which provides an efficient method to discriminate canopy from soil and lower vegetation such as weeds or cover crops.This paper describes a method based on the DSM to assess canopy growth(CG)as well as missing plants from a kiwifruit orchard on a plant-by-plant scale.The DSM was initially extracted from the overlapping RGB aerial imagery acquired over the kiwifruit orchard using the Structure from Motion(SfM)algorithm.An adaptive threshold algorithm was implemented using the height difference between soil/lower plants and kiwifruit canopies to identify plants and extract canopy information on a non-regular surface.Furthermore,a customized algorithm was developed to discriminate single kiwifruit plants automatically,which allowed the estimation of individual canopy cover fractions(fc).By applying differential fc thresholding,four categories of the CG were determined automatically:(i)missing plants;(ii)low vigor;(iii)moderate vigor;and(iv)vigorous.Results were validated by a detailed visual inspection on the ground,which rendered an overall accuracy of 89.5%for the method proposed to assess CG at the plant-by-plant level.Specifically,the accuracies for CG category(i)-(iv)were 94.1%,85.1%,86.7%,and 88.0%,respectively.The proposed method showed also to be appropriate to filter out weeds and other smaller non-plant materials which are extremely difficult to be distinguished by common colour thresholding or edge identification methods.

A Method to Identify Flight Obstacles on Digital Surface Model

In modern low-altitude terrain-following guidance, a constructing method of the digital surface model (DSM) is presented in the paper to reduce the threat to flying vehicles of tall surface features for safe flight. The relationship between an isolated obstacle size and the intervals of vertical- and cross-section in the DSM model is established. The definition and classification of isolated obstacles are proposed, and a method for determining such isolated obstacles in the DSM model is given. The simulation of a typical urban district shows that when the vertical- and cross-section DSM intervals are between 3 m and 25 m, the threat to terrain-following flight at low-altitude is reduced greatly, and the amount of data required by the DSM model for monitoring in real time a flying vehicle is also smaller. Experiments show that the optimal results are for an interval of 12.5 m in the vertical- and cross-sections in the DSM model, with a 1:10 000 DSM scale grade.

Issues in the application of Digital Surface Model data to correct the terrain illumination effects in Landsat images

The accuracy of topographic correction of Landsat data based on a Digital Surface Model(DSM)depends on the quality,scale and spatial resolution of the DSM data used and the co-registration between the DSM and the satellite image.A physics-based bidirectional reflectance distribution function(BRDF)and atmospheric correction model in conjunction with a 1-second DSM was used to conduct the analysis in this paper.The results show that for the examples used from Australia,the 1-second DSM,can provide an effective product for this task.However,it was found that some remaining artefacts in the DSM data,originally due to radar shadow,can still cause significant local errors in the correction.Where they occur,false shadows and over-corrected surface reflectance factors can be observed.More generally,accurate co-registration between satellite images and DSM data was found to be critical for effective correction.Mis-registration by one or two pixels could lead to large errors of retrieved surface reflectance factors in gully and ridge areas.Using low-resolution DSM data in conjunction with high-resolution satellite images will also fail to correct significant terrain components where they occur at the finer scales of the satellite images.DSM resolution appropriate to the resolution of satellite image and the roughness of the terrain is needed for effective results,and the rougher the terrain,the more critical will be the accurate registration.

一种快速生成DSM的不规则三角网构网新方法

针对目前存在的不规则三角网(triangulation irregular network,TIN)构网效率较低的问题提出了一种新的生成数字表面模型(digital surface model,DSM)的构网方法。首先,通过建立虚拟格网和格网插值,在线性时间内快速建立初始三角网。然后,对初始三角网中局部少量数据优化得到最终的TIN。最后,对数据进行冗余处理和密集处理,构造高分辨率的DSM。实验结果表明,该算法的构网效率高于当前存在的TIN构网方法,对于大数据量的DSM生成具有良好的适用性。