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Sedimentological characterization of Antarctic moraines using UAVs and Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Stuart DunningORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

In glacial environments particle-size analysis of moraines provides insights into clast origin, transport history, depositional mechanism and processes of reworking. Traditional methods for grain-size classification are labour-intensive, physically intrusive and are limited to patch-scale (1m2) observation. We develop emerging, high-resolution ground- and unmanned aerial vehicle-based ‘Structure-from-Motion’ (UAV-SfM) photogrammetry to recover grain-size information across a moraine surface in the Heritage Range, Antarctica. SfM data products were benchmarked against equivalent datasets acquired using terrestrial laser scanning, and were found to be accurate to within 1.7 and 50mm for patch- and site-scale modelling, respectively. Grain-size distributions were obtained through digital grain classification, or ‘photo-sieving’, of patch-scale SfM orthoimagery. Photo-sieved distributions were accurate to <2mm compared to control distributions derived from dry-sieving. A relationship between patch-scale median grain size and the standard deviation of local surface elevations was applied to a site-scale UAV-SfM model to facilitate upscaling and the production of a spatially continuous map of the median grain size across a 0.3 km2 area of moraine. This highly automated workflow for site-scale sedimentological characterization eliminates much of the subjectivity associated with traditional methods and forms a sound basis for subsequent glaciological process interpretation and analysis.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Westoby MJ, Dunning SA, Woodward J, Hein AS, Marrero SM, Winter K, Sugden DE

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Glaciology

Year: 2015

Volume: 61

Issue: 230

Pages: 1088-1102

Print publication date: 01/12/2015

Online publication date: 26/11/2015

Acceptance date: 10/10/2015

Date deposited: 27/11/2015

ISSN (print): 0022-1430

ISSN (electronic): 1727-5652

Publisher: International Glaciological Society

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/2015JoG15J086

DOI: 10.3189/2015JoG15J086


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