Remote Sens. 2017, 9(1), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9010060
First Results of a Tandem Terrestrial-Unmanned Aerial mapKITE System with Kinematic Ground Control Points for Corridor Mapping
1
GeoNumerics, Avda. Carl Friedrich Gauss 11, E08860 Castelldefels, Spain
2
Geodetic Engineering Laboratory (TOPO), École Polytécthnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), Batiment GC Station 18, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Farid Melgani, Francesco Nex, Xiaofeng Li and Prasad S. Thenkabail
Received: 30 November 2016 / Revised: 1 January 2017 / Accepted: 4 January 2017 / Published: 11 January 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Trends in UAV Remote Sensing)
Abstract
In this article, we report about the first results of the mapKITE system, a tandem terrestrial-aerial concept for geodata acquisition and processing, obtained in corridor mapping missions. The system combines an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and a Terrestrial Mobile Mapping System (TMMS) operated in a singular way: real-time waypoints are computed from the TMMS platform and sent to the UAS in a follow-me scheme. This approach leads to a simultaneous acquisition of aerial-plus-ground geodata and, moreover, opens the door to an advanced post-processing approach for sensor orientation. The current contribution focuses on analysing the impact of the new, dynamic Kinematic Ground Control Points (KGCPs), which arise inherently from the mapKITE paradigm, as an alternative to conventional, costly Ground Control Points (GCPs). In the frame of a mapKITE campaign carried out in June 2016, we present results entailing sensor orientation and calibration accuracy assessment through ground check points, and precision and correlation analysis of self-calibration parameters’ estimation. Conclusions indicate that the mapKITE concept eliminates the need for GCPs when using only KGCPs plus a couple of GCPs at each corridor end, achieving check point horizontal accuracy ofKeywords:
mapKITE; UAV; mobile mapping; orientation and calibration; corridor mapping
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
Supplementary materials
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Externally hosted supplementary file 1
Link: http://vimeo.com/181634599
Description: Additional available materials report about the concept and results from the presented test campaign: test campaign video. -
Externally hosted supplementary file 2
Link: http://mapkite.com/images/mapKITE_files/mapKITE_first-demonstration_v0-0.pdf
Description: Additional available materials report about the concept and results from the presented test campaign: report brochure in PDF format.
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Molina, P.; Blázquez, M.; Cucci, D.A.; Colomina, I. First Results of a Tandem Terrestrial-Unmanned Aerial mapKITE System with Kinematic Ground Control Points for Corridor Mapping. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 60.
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