Geology & Mining Articles

A construction company based in North Carolina incorporates new drone photo technology with advanced software to calculate stockpile volumes quickly and efficiently, and in addition, create site topographic data.

This article describes the use of UAS by two PhotoModeler customers in civil engineering and geology work. One customer specializes in rock slope surveys, and the other in environmental monitoring and remediation. They both found that using UAS and PhotoModeler greatly reduced their costs and reduced risk.  See p. 54 in full online magazine.

The authors describe a low-cost application of digital photogrammetry using commercially available photogrammetric software and oblique photographs taken with an off-the-shelf digital camera to create sequential digital elevation models (DEMs) of a lava dome that grew during the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano.

The aim of this work is the establishment of an efficient and accurate digital camera calibration method to be used in particular working conditions, as it can be found with our UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) photogrammetric projects.

Most of the works of civil engineering, and some others applications, need to be designed using a basic cartography with a suitable scale to the accuracy and extension of the plot. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Photogrammetry covers the gap between classical manned aerial photogrammetry and hand-made surveying techniques because it works in the close-range domain, combining aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, but also introduces low-cost alternatives.The aim of this work is developing of an accurate and low-cost method to characterize landslides located on the size of a road.

For calibrating the camera, an accurate determination of the interior orientation parameters is needed. For more accurate results, the calibration images should be taken under conditions that are similar to the field samples.The aim of this work is the establishment of an efficient and accurate digital camera calibration method to be used in particular working conditions, as it can be found with our UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) photogrammetric projects.

The paper presents how terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and terrestrial digital photogrammetry were used to create a 3D model of a steep mountain wall. Terrestrial methods of data acquisition are the most suitable for such relief, as the most effective registration is perpendicular to the surface. First, various aspects of photo-based scanning and laser scanning were discussed.

Investigations of major geological formations are very important since they provide vital information in terms of monitoring of feature changes. This article describes the way in which close range photogrammetry can be used to obtain quantitative information on the geometry and strain patterns in an evolving physical model.

The main goal of our activity has been the testing of a system for quick and non invasive images acquisition and their suitable processings aimed to obtain 2D & 3D models for archaeological diggings documentation. This purpose has implied the analysis and the selection of a simple and efficient data processing system for the generation of metric products such as digital elevation models and orthophotos, featured by an high level of detail regarding the excavated areas.

Land-based ice cliffs are intriguing features at the margins of glaciers around the world but little is known about mechanisms of their formation and maintenance. The focus of article is on the persistent, rarely-calving ice cliffs on the Kibo glacier, the main peak of Kilimanjaro. Oct 2009 photos were taken covering the sample cliff. PhotoModeler Scanner’s automatic stereo matching lead to a reference digital surface model.