Surveying Articles

“In this interview, we talk to Jean Sans of Experts-Yachts about the uses of photogrammetry in maritime surveys. An early adopter of the technology, Jean has been employing photogrammetry in his practice since 1983.”

The purpose of this project was to assess the feasibility to restore the Ely Bridge in Monticello, Iowa, a structure listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The author was invited by the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Colorado, Denver, to create a three-dimensional scaled wire frame of the bridge to be used in a finite-element stress analysis. This report describes the effort of creating this digital three-dimensional wire frame, using photogrammetric tools. This

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.

“Surveying is a time and labor intensive process that requires extremely high levels of accuracy. Two North American surveyors are addressing this challenge by using photogrammetry to increase the number of points surveyed by several orders of magnitude while reducing field time by half or more. Photogrammetry is the process of generating measurements and models from photograph…”

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.

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.

Slope failures and landslides associated with earthquakes and typhoons are major natural hazards on Taiwan’s mountain highways. This paper attempts to apply photogrammetry techniques to carry out a speedy in-situ survey. We first create the three-dimensional (3D) model of a brick wall and validate that the average error is 0.28 mm in the measured distance. Afterward, the same measurement procedures are applied to an in-situ mudstone slope. The average error in the estimated distance is 0.41cm. Therefore, the investigating result guarantees the accuracy of applying Photogrammetry to investigate the geometry of in-situ failed slope. (the local copy is the first page).

“When architects begin a renovation or addition to a building for which no plans are available, they are often faced with the tedious chore of measuring existing conditions and creating plans from scratch. Not too long ago, the most efficient process involved a three-person team one with a clipboard and two with a measuring tape, calling out distances. But in recent years, several aids have been developed that make it easier, even for one person alone, to make measurements fast and accurately.”

Mike Fedak performed a study to investigate the accuracy of a measurement system using PhotoModeler Pro, a consumer-grade digital camera, and retro-reflective targets.