Measuring Building Height Using Point Cloud Data Derived from Unmanned Aerial System Imagery in an Undergraduate Geospatial Science Course

Abstract

The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also known as drones is increasing in geospatial science curricula within the United States. Within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) at Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas, seniors in the geospatial science program complete capstone projects to evaluate current geospatial technology to investigate complex ecological, social and environmental issues. Under the umbrella of a student initiated and designed senior project, students designed a study to estimate height of buildings with UAS data incorporating UAS data, LP360 and ArcScene programs, and Pictometry web-based interface. Results from a statistical analysis of the data confirm that geospatial science height estimation techniques can provide accurate estimates of height remotely. The independence of the students completing the project with UAS data for LP360 and ArcScene estimations, and utilizing Pictometry as an on-onscreen measuring tool, point to the need to integrate remote sensing, statistical analysis and synthesis of data into undergraduate geospatial science curricula. This reinforces the hands-on learning approach within ATCOFA and provides guidance to integrate the use of UAS in natural resource education.

Unmanned Aerial Systems for Building Footprint Extraction in Urban Area

“…The point clouds are unclassified data sets that contain ground and non-ground objects. Because of the point clouds derived from the UAS orthophotos do not have multiple returns as LIDAR dataset [19].…”

Integrating Drones Across the Curriculum at Stephen F. Austin State University

“…These six focus areas were integrated into teaching, research and service with drones in the development of service-learning activities for the Port Jefferson History Center and Nature Center on use of drones in documenting the natural resource aspects of the site [6,15]. In addition, a three-dimensional model of the Caddo House destroyed by a Integrating Drones across the Curriculum at Stephen F. Austin State University DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1002705 tornado was recreated as a remembrance of the event for the Caddo Nation celebration (Figure 27) [16]. Hands-on activities which included the estimation of heights of trees, buildings and light poles using drones were constructed in multiple natural resource courses (Figure 28) [10,12,16].…”

“…In addition, a three-dimensional model of the Caddo House destroyed by a Integrating Drones across the Curriculum at Stephen F. Austin State University DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1002705 tornado was recreated as a remembrance of the event for the Caddo Nation celebration (Figure 27) [16]. Hands-on activities which included the estimation of heights of trees, buildings and light poles using drones were constructed in multiple natural resource courses (Figure 28) [10,12,16]. The major finding was that the drone needed to land and be reset between individual drone flights to acquire more accurate measurements.…”

Open-Source Tool for Transforming CityGML Levels of Detail

“…Certain roof types such as dual-pent, gabled, etc., also require the information about roof height (defined as a bldg:roofHeight element in CityGML) from the user. The roof height refers to the minimum eaves height, which is the point where the external walls, if projected upwards, meet the lowest point of the upper surface of the roof [132,133]. If a user-provided roof type consists of a tilt, the orientation of the roof is also required.…”