A review of UAV photogrammetry application in assessing surface elevation changes

Abstract

Assessing large scale topography and surface elevation changes usually requires temporal remote sensing and aerial photogrammetrically-based data. Usually, very high resolution (VHR) elevation data, for instance, digital surface models (DSM) from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are used to visualise the changes in surface elevation. Therefore, this study attempts to review different case studies of assessing topography and surface elevation changes, specifically on geomorphological change detection (GCD) based on UAV photogrammetry data. The case study areas at Five Finger Strand (NW Ireland), Rosolina Mare (Italy) and Elbow River, Alberta (Canada) were discussed. This paper reviews the theory of UAV, surface elevation changes, and the summary of a related case study of surface elevation changes. The finding can provide a deep understanding of UAV applications in assessing surface elevation changes using UAV photogrammetry data.