Photogrammetry and GIS for Landscape Design

Part one
by Admin on July 21, 2014 in Photogrammetry, Surveying

I. Introduction
Photogrammetry is the relatively old practice of determining the geometric properties of an object from an
image. Accurate depth and 3D representation of the geometry of that object or landscape can be generated
from images of two or more overlapping perspectives. Measurements, contour lines and terrain
maps;hillshade maps; water flow and accumulation; aspect and slope; vegetation species, distribution and
activity; heat and radiation maps, and much more similar data can then be extracted through analysis of the
information contained within those digital elevation models (DEM).
The purpose of this article is to outline our experience with this methodology. We also hope to provide
landscape designers with a very basic introduction into the practice of photogrammetry through various
examples of its applications. This is part one in a series of articles.

II. Equipment

UAV
Owning an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is not necessary to be able to practice photogrammetry, with
the essential equipment being only a high quality camera. However for landscape analysis UAVs are essential
in that they allow in a convenient and cheap way for aerial photography. The drone that we are currently
testing for these purposes is the DJI Phantom Vision 2 Plus with Ground station for iPad and PC.
Vision 2 Plus carries a 14 Megapixels camera, with rolling shutter and fisheye wide-angle lens attached on to
a gimbal for stabilization and tilt. The tilt control allows for the camera to shoot at different angles during
flight. The tilting range of the gimbal is from 0 to 90 degrees, with straight-down perspective being essential
for generating top view maps from a mozaic of overlapping images. This model can now hover automatically,
maintaining a position in the air to allow for us to take photos consistently from the same elevation
throughout a manually operated flightpath. Moreover, input of pre-determined waypoint flightpaths is now
available together with option to automate the photograph taking process through various settings and time
intervals. Some of these features are not at all essential for landscape photogrammetry, please look below for
overview of our test flights and notes on this.
Upon acquiring this UAV we thought the photo camera supports both fisheye and narrow settings, however
we found this to be true of the video camera and not the photography which is wide-angle view only. This is
not a significant issue, however. If needs be, the distortion is easily corrected within software such as Adobe
Photoshop CS/CC or Lightroom, although editing the original photographs in any way is not advised.

Ground Station
After trying out the waypoint system of the Ground Station software on an Android phone, it became obvious
that the small screen size of the phone is impractical in terms of smooth workflow and ease of planning.
Decision was made to invest further into Ground Station hardware that would allow us to establish a
connection between a laptop/tablet and the UAV. However, this is again not an essential piece of equipment
and good DEMs can be generated without it!

III. Software
There are several pieces of software you may need, depending on your goals.

1. Photogrammetry software:
Used to generate the 3D model or orthophotographs from overlapping images.
Various photogrammetry softwares are available on the market for purchase. The price range varies from
hundreds to thousands of dollars. Good open-source software is also available. Below is an overview of our
experience with several paid and free sofware.

Open source software:

Autodesk 123D Catch: Works flawlessly. Interface is very simple and workflow is smooth. Models are
apparently accurate. However, it is entirely cloud-based and it also sets limitation on the number of photos
you can import. Additionally, it puts contraints on the resolution of the 3D mesh. This software rendered
some of our best results so far, though.
VisualSFM: used to generate sparse point-cloud models. Apparently has no constraints on the number of
photos you can import, however upon file export you have to use additional software to end up with a file
suitable for analysis. This may not always be a completely a straight-forward process. It is usually used in
conjunction with CMPMVS and Meshlab, please read on for more information on this process.
CMPMVS: Renders dense point cloud data from VisualSFM export files.

Meshlab: Allows for the editing of 3D mesh and point clouds. Combined with the output of VisualSFM and
CMPMVS it can render a mesh in high resolution.

Paid software:

Agisoft Photoscan: The standard edition costs around 180$, while the Professional edition costs up to
3600$. For quality work, the Pro version is essential. Interface is user friendly and most of the processes are
automated. Results vary, apparently depending on a complex set of interaction between input data and
settings. Sometimes the results we got were completely disappointing.
PhotoModeler Scanner: It is known to be used by CSI departments with consistency of success.
The interface is complex and may be daunting. Workflow was somewhat irritating due to the high demand for
manual input of data, although results were good and the estimates it made were fairly accurate.
Menci APS: We have no experience with APS, but it is widely praised and tested. The samples on their
website are impressive.
Pix4D Mapper (thanks to Marcus Spinella for suggestion): Weve just tested this. Much like Photoscan,
processes are mostly automated and results are decent. Particularly cloud point data is rendered in a way
superior to most other software we tried. Unlimited use license costs about 6000 Euro.

2. GIS software:
Used to analyze digital terrain models and extract data from them, such as contour lines.

Open-source software:

QGIS: This is the open-source, industry-standard GIS software. It can perform most, if not all, of the
essential analysis functions. It supports multiple plugins, the interface is decent and fairly informative. The
community is large, very knowledgable and supportive. We achieved excellent analysis with this one.
TauDEM: Tools for the extraction of hydrological data from digital elevation models. Often used in
conjunction with QGIS as an extension.

Paid software:

ArcGIS (specifically, ArcMAP): Most widely used GIS software in the world. Price seems to vary depending
on the entity making the purchase, but it is in the thousands of dollars. Also the essential extensions that
perform the analysis that we are targeting in these articles have to be purchased seperately; price just for
these may be in the thousands of dollars as well. The community of professionals is massive and the support
is fantastic.
ArcHydro: An extension that is not technically paid for software, but requires ArcGIS. It is used for
geospatial hydrology and terrain analysis focused on stream and watershed delineation.
ArcScene: Usually used for 3D visualisation of point cloud data.

ENVI: Another industry-standard Image Analysis Software. More sophisticated and faster than ArcMap in
some regards. Specifically designed to be compatible with ArcGIS.

3. Image editing software:

For our purposes it is used to carry out image, lens and color corrections. It is not essential at all. We have no
extensive experience with open-source software here, so the free software below is only a suggestion.

Open-source software:
- GIMP
- Inkscape
Agisoft Lens (thanks to Adam Coates for suggesting this): Automatic lens calibration software

Paid software:

Adobe Photoshop CS6: Has image editing features that allow for lense, color and similar corrections.

Adobe Lightroom CS5: We use this software to edit our photos and make corrections. Another good
feature is that it allows us to input GPS coordinates into our photos. Although the Phantom UAV already does
this automatically, sometimes editing the photos from the drone can result in the coordinates being erased
and we have to put them back manually.

IV. A process for generating DEMs and extracting contour

lines
This is an overview of a basic process for generating digital terrain models and then extracting contour lines
from them. We have not included in this article the process used to add Ground Control Points,
georeferencing, contour labeling and other data inputs, but this will be covered in future articles.

1. Photograph the landscape you would want to analyse

Bear in mind that the edges of photos may be taken out further down the process. The area of interest you
want to analyse should always be in the centre of the photographs.
Your photos should have at least 60% overlap! This is critical. If you are flying below 70 meters of altitude
such percentage of overlap is nearly impossible to get with the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus!
Experiment with different angles. For us perspectives of 35-45 degrees work well for 3D models. For
orthophotograph mozaic, 90 degrees may be best.
Experiment with capturing different perspectives and make more photos than youd think you need. In our
experience, however, more photos input into the software does not necessarily result in better DEMs. Some of
the best DEMs we could generate took only 4-5 photos. The purpose of making more than you may need is
because one set may work out better than another, and also because certain photographs (with blurr, for
example) must be discarded completely.
For any series of photographs consistently maintain equal elevation and distance from the object you want to
analyze.
Take photos in mid day when theres less shadowcast.

A basic dos and donts tutorial can be found here. A great manual by Agisoft can also be found here.

2. Download the photos and input them into your photogrammery

software
You may have to play with the settings, depending on your software of choice, to get good results.

1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.

The basic process for generating DEM in Agisoft Photoscan is the following:
Go to Workflow and then Add Photos. Choose your desired photos and open them.
Go to Workflow and then Align Photos. In Accuracy choose High, and in Pair selection choose either
Generic or Disabled unless you have Ground Control Points, in which case choose Ground Control. Click
OK
Go to Workflow and then Build Dense Cloud. You may have to experiment with the settings here
depending on your computer system and the landscape you have captured. In Quality usual input is either
High or Ultra, and in Depth Filtering use Mild for densely vegetated areas or Aggressive for less
vegetated landscapes. Click OK
Go to Workflow and then Build Mesh. Surface type choose Height field, in Source data choose Dense
cloud, and in Polygon count choose either High or a custom number you can experiment with. Put
Interpolation on Enabled. Click OK
After the mesh is generated you can build your texture by going to Workflow and then Build Texture
Export the DEM by going to File and then Export DEM. In Projection type choose Geographic. Choose
a Coordinate system from the dropdown menu, usually it is WGS 84 (EPSG: :4326). Choose Crop invalid
DEM and then click on Export.
A tutorial by Agisoft can be found here. And another one by MAPSandGIS can be found here.

If you decide to use VisualSFM, you will have to combine it with CMPMVS and MeshLab. Note that CMPMVS
takes tremendous RAM to generate dense point cloud data, it is also unlikely that it will work with ATI video
cards. A good tutorial on this process can be found here and here. Another tutorial by digital composer Jesse
Spielman on his experience with VisualSFM in conjunction with Meshlab can be found here.
Notes

Forested or densely vegetated (40% or more) areas may be problematic for DEM generation and contour
extraction through photogrammetry. However, one could measure individual points from the raster cells of
clearings, and then interpolate them to approximate the value of the neighbouring cells that had no data. We
are soon testing the accuracy of this approach. Some people have reported success with LAStools, which
is chiefly designed for LiDAR data manipulation and can be used to remove trees from the model so as to
easily extract ground elevation points.

3. Import the DEM file into your GIS software.

In QGIS you can use the following procedure:

1. Use the browser on the left side of the window to find your DEM file and then open it.
2. Go to Raster -> Extraction -> Contours

3.
4.
5.

In Input file (raster) choose your DEM file

In Output file for contour lines (vector) choose a location for the contour data to be saved.
In Interval between contour lines choose your desired contour spacing. Note, you may want to change the
measuring system used by the software in the program settings (this is in Settings -> Options in the software
menus).

6.

Leave the other settings on default and click OK. Your contours are generating and you should get a pop-up
window to inform you when they are ready.

1.

In ArcMAP you can use the following procedure (Note: you will need the Spatial Analyst extension for this!):

6.

Leave the other settings on default and click OK. Your contours are generating and you should get a pop-up
window to inform you when they are ready.

Load your DEM file from File -> Add Data -> Add Data
2. If the file has multiple bands, load all of them. But afterwards from the layer menu a leave only one of them
visible.
3. Go to the search tab in the far left of the software and type in Contours. Open the tool Contour (Spatial
Analyst)
4. In Raster Input choose the layer of your DEM file, or the band that you left visible in step 2. In Output
Polyline Features choose a file name and a place to store the contour information.
5. In Contor Interval choose your desired contour spacing.

V. Some of our test flights and analysis trials:

1. Park flight

Aerial photography in a local park

The photos above were taken manually at 90 degree angle.

The 3D model had distortions at two of the trees where sufficient data was lacking. These are usually taken
out or edited, but were left here to illustrate an example mesh distortion.

Once the model was exported, the DEM was processed in QGIS to extract 1 m spacing contour lines. Note the
distorted topography where the mesh was inaccurate.

Orthophoto and a DEM model with accurately rendered contour lines.

2. Stanage Wall

Aerial photography of part of the Stanage Wall

Photos above were taken manually at 45 degree angle.

The 3D model was exceptionally well rendered without major distortions, except for a few holes in the mesh
which were easily closed.

Once the model was rendered, the DEM was imported into QGIS and 1 m contour lines were extracted.

3D model and textured mesh with accurate contour lines extraction

3. Cliffs random raster

Aerial photography of a cliff that we found on the web

This is an example of photogrammetry from random images that were on the web, you can find the article
with the images here. The reason for including this example is to demonstrate that raster files that do
not not contain elevation positions cannot generate an accurate DEM for contour lines extraction. DEMs are

entirely coordinate based, every pixel cell contains coordinate data without which contours maps cannot be
extracted! In this example elevation was not recognized by the software and upon GIS analyses the program
mistakenly outlines unreferenced pixel data as being topography. The resulting contour lines as you see
below are not useable and are completely inaccurate. Note however the seemless orthophoto; this is likely a
result of the good overlap of these images which was about 60%.
Note: It is likely that software would not even allow for the export into DEM without having either coordinate
inputs into your photos, or ground control points.

Orthophoto and DEM model of the cliff with inaccurate render of topography

4. Sheffield, UK, open area

Aerial photography of a open grass area in Sheffield, United Kingdom

The photographs were taken with a manual control of the UAV at 40m altitude
The model did not render well and struggled with the trees, however the major slope of the site seems to
have been reproduced
Due to the poor quality of the render we did not go further to try and extract contour lines. Note, one could
still extract contour lines by connecting points from within the open spaces.

 Trees [likely] become heavily distorted when software attempts to make sense of point cloud data and

generates a mesh that is not based on any data of whats happening beneath the crown of the tree where the
camera could not capture anything. In other words, software improvises to fill in the gaps and in doing so
distorts the mesh. from comment section here

5. Norfolk Park, Sheffield, UK

Aerial photography of a part of Norfolk Park in Sheffield, United Kingdom

The photographs were taken with a waypoint system and automated flight of the UAV at 40m altitude
The area had just been cleared and the vegetation layer was very low. The model rendered correctly.
83 photographs were merged for this render and 2 georeferencing points. We took more data on the site, but
it was corrupted when we went back to edit.

To improve the quality next time we will:

Take the photographs from at least 70m altitude;
Photograph an even larger area around the site we want to survey;
Use the Ground Control system by DJI;

See the area surveyed on Google Maps

VI. Conclusion
We hope this article provides encouragement for other people to explore the potential of photogrammetry. In
articles to follow we will look at the various GIS analyses one could carry out on a decent DEM file.
There are many other processes we would love to share , with our main restriction being to generate enough
funding to support the experimental research. Currently we plan to carry out trials with the Piksi RTK
GPS and determine the average accuracy of photogrammetry topography mapping with it and to furthermore
improve the process of generating accurate DEMs and GIS analyses as cheaply and easily as possible. If you
find that this article was of help to you and would appreciate more similar information, please
consider donating to the cause. Thank you for your support and attention. If you have any questions,
criticism or other feedback please contact us.