Analysis of the Possibilities of Using Different Resolution Digital Elevation Models in the Study of Microrelief on the Example of Terrain Passability

Abstract

In this article, we discuss issues concerning the development of detailed passability maps, which are used in the crisis management process and for military purposes. The paper presents the authorial methodology of the automatic generation of these maps with the use of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) acquired from airborne laser scanning (light detection and ranging (LIDAR)) and photogrammetric data obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) measurements. The aim of the article is to conduct a detailed comparison of these models in the context of their usage in passability map development. The proposed algorithm of map generation was tested comprehensively in terms of the source of the used spatial data, the resolution, and the types of vehicles moving in terrain. Tests were conducted on areas with a diversified landform, with typical forms of relief that hinder vehicle movement (bluffs and streams). Due to the huge amount of data to be processed, the comprehensive analysis of the possibilities of using DEMs in different configurations of pixel size was executed. This allowed for decreasing the resolution of the model while maintaining the appropriate accuracy properties of the resulting passability map. The obtained results showed insignificant disparities between both sources of used DEMs and demonstrated that using the model with the 2.5 m pixel size did not significantly degrade the accuracy of the passability maps, which has a huge impact on their generation time.

Methodology of Using Terrain Passability Maps for Planning the Movement of Troops and Navigation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles

“…On the other hand, the second terrain is located in the west part of Warsaw (52°14′ N, 21°00′ E) and its surface area is only about 2 square kilometers. This analysis was conducted way more accurately on the basis of smaller primary fields (tactical level of command) and it was also enriched with the exclusion of impassable areas that came out of the microrelief analysis conducted with the use of the methodology that was widely described in [ 29 ] and of buildings. The location of areas of research is presented in Figure 1 .…”

“…This step is used in high resolution analysis (for the tactical level of command). It uses the methodology described in [ 29 ] to generate impassable areas based on digital elevation models (DEM) in high resolution ( Figure 2 , 6). Additionally, the authors assumed that buildings are objects that cannot be passed by a vehicle, so they were also considered as impassable terrain.…”

“…Apart from that, the authors proposed methodologies, conducted tests and analyses on the application of artificial neural networks (multi-layer perceptron [ 27 ] and Kohonen Self Organizing Map [ 28 ]) to generate maps. Besides the analyses of passability on the operational level, which brought results in the form of generalised maps in a small scale, the authors also proposed methods to develop high-resolution (detailed) passability models, which allow users to plan the movement of individual vehicles [ 29 , 30 ] of a specific type. All the studies quoted above focused on developing maps that would reflect the actual terrain situation as accurately as possible, depending on their intended application.…”

“…The research presented here complements the studies listed in the previous section. The main research question which the authors were confronted with was the presentation of the methodology to convert the passability model that was developed and presented by the authors in numerous publications (including [ 22 , 24 , 27 , 29 , 30 ]) as the basis for the automated generation of the optimal path. This will doubtlessly lead to improved functionality and usability of the developed model.…”

Methodology of Using Terrain Passability Maps for Planning the Movement of Troops and Navigation of Unmanned Ground Vehicles

“…Until now the authors have conducted researches that significantly extended the definition of three-classes passability maps. They published (Dawid & Pokonieczny, 2020;K. Pokonieczny, 2018) methodologies of different detailed maps development on the basis of various repositories of spatial data.…”