Monitoring 3D Urban Growth

An Innovative Approach Integrating Lidar Processing with Machine Learning

Automated measurement of the third dimension of urban growth is a crucial requirement for future urban planning and monitoring. Airborne Lidar is increasingly being used to produce regular time-based data over metropolitan areas. However, the current solutions ignore the specific needs of urban planners, are complicated to run and fail to address the problem of monitoring 3D urban growth over time at building scale. To address the current challenges, two possible solutions have been developed into an integrated procedure. Urban planners want to automatically estimate all three dimensions and model the changes to buildings, the building footprints and absolute height... (read more)

2019-08-28 08:19:08

UAV Monitoring of Coastal Erosion

In this case study, QuestUAV describes the use of UAV photography and photogrammetry to measure long-term erosion of the coast of northeast England. The British Geological Survey states that across England and Wales 113,000 residential properties, 9,000 commercial properties and 5,000 hectares of agricultural land are within areas at risk of coastal erosion. Mitigating the effects of climate change requires coastal protection studies and coastal protection measures. As every planner knows however, this increases the burden of allocating ever decreasing financial resources. Accurate evaluation of the change, gleaned from historical studies, combined with best practice from current studies and environmental... (read more)

2017-07-04 11:39:36

Maptek Showcases Sentry Monitoring System

Maptek has announced it will be displaying its latest mobile monitoring system at Slope Stability 2018. “At its heart, the conference is tackling an issue, slope stability, which has a real impact on risk and hence safety in open pit mines. The better our understanding of slope stability, the better placed we are to improve safety to mining personnel, the environment and mining equipment.” said James Howarth, Maptek Mine Measurement Product Manager. “Mine safety is an area where we invest significant R&D, specifically on our range of 3D laser scanners, our geotechnical analysis software and in recent years, Sentry surface... (read more)

2018-04-10 10:10:56

DMC Constellation Strengthens Wide Area Monitoring Capabilities

Airbus Defence and Space is now offering new capabilities for wide area monitoring through the DMC Constellation, bringing increased resolution (12 to 24m) and extra spectral bands, including Red-Edge, Blue, Coastal Blue and Panchromatic. These new assets will boost key capabilities for agriculture, environmental monitoring and disaster management applications. Complementing existing DMC Constellation satellites, this expansion of imaging capability is possible through exclusive commercial imagery agreements for the Alsat-1B satellite mission with the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL), and for the KazSTSAT satellite mission with Ghalam LLP. This ensures partners leverage Airbus’ expertise in end-to-end mission operation services, while improving Airbus... (read more)

2019-03-06 10:09:28

Hexagon Unveils Monitoring Platform for Mining

Hexagon’s Geosystems division has released HxGN GeoMonitoring Hub, an integrated visualization and analysis platform bringing all sensor technology together in one holistic view of a mining environment. The new platform uses advanced software to show highly accurate information, thus accelerating decision-making and improving safety. HxGN GeoMonitoring Hub combines total station, GNSS, radar and other monitoring sensor data from a mining project into one simple-to-understand view. “The HxGN GeoMonitoring Hub is such an important software integration for problem-solving in the mining sector. This is a solution we have been anticipating for a long time, and now we have an integrated platform... (read more)

2019-05-08 11:43:29

Satellites for Multiple Asset Structural Monitoring

InSAR and BIM

Critical infrastructures such as nuclear power stations, LNG terminals, railways and motorways in critical locations cover vast sites that have to be efficiently monitored and, on many occasions, heavily instrumented in specific locations as a reaction to a known failure or repair. Sometimes, construction on large sites can affect or jeopardize operations on older infrastructures adjacent to the site. In addition, the fact that there are so many surveying instruments and monitoring solutions on offer makes it very difficult for asset managers to choose one and, if more than one, to connect the vast amount of data to enhance infrastructure... (read more)

2020-06-03 10:01:13

Leica VADASE - A Autonomous GNSS Monitoring Solution

Leica Geosystems has released Leica VADASE, the world’s first GNSS monitoring solution integrated into a stand-alone receiver detecting fast movements of man-made and natural structures in real time. Running onboard the Leica Geosystems reference station and monitoring receivers, Leica Velocity and Displacement Autonomous Solution Engine (VADASE) provides an in-depth look into fast movements using unique processing algorithms. In real time, accurate high-rate velocity and displacement information of various activities and structures are provided to engineers and researchers for a complete, precise and reliable monitoring solution. Leica VADASE delivers actionable information independent of any GNSS RTK correction service in real time.... (read more)

2017-01-11 11:34:07

Crossrail Monitoring - Delivering the three Rs

The decision to take monitoring in-house has allowed Morgan Sindall to create a tailor-made solution that delivers the three Rs sought by Crossrail, Network Rail, and Docklands Light Railway on the C350 Pudding Mill Lane contract. In 2018 Crossrail services are due to commence through central London. The £15bn project will pass through 37 stations and run 118 km (73 miles) from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The project’s C350 Pudding Mill Lane contract, won by Morgan Sindall plc, is worth in the region of £100 million and will link the... (read more)

2017-07-19 05:48:05

Study Finds Volcano Cliffs Can Affect Monitoring Data

New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has revealed that sharp variations in the surface of volcanoes can affect data collected by monitoring equipment. The surfaces of many volcanoes feature steep walls or cliffs. These are often part of calderas – large craters left by a previous collapse – but can also be caused by the volcano ‘rifting’ (i.e. splitting) or sector collapse, which is when part of the side of the volcano slides away. However, the effect of these variations in landscape has not previously been considered in studies of surface deformation in volcanic regions, even... (read more)

2019-03-19 10:18:48

Monitoring Earth's Skin to Advance Farming and Climate Knowledge

A bright-red twin-engined aircraft, equipped with ultra-high-resolution thermal imaging technology, has been scouring the agricultural heartlands of Europe this summer. It was no search and rescue exercise, but an initial step towards building a proposed new satellite system capable of recording the temperature of Earth’s skin in intricate detail. The objective is to work towards increasing the resilience of agriculture to future water scarcity and variability, but it will also deepen our understanding of Earth’s climate system. The instrument on board, called HyTES, is an advanced thermal imager built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has been surveying agricultural and... (read more)

2019-07-24 10:41:55