Application of UAV-SfM photogrammetry and aerial lidar to a disastrous flood: repeated topographic measurement of a newly formed crevasse splay of the Kinu River, central Japan

Abstract

Geomorphic impacts of a disastrous crevasse splay that formed in September 2015 and its post-formation modifications were quantitatively documented by using repeated, high-definition digital surface models (DSMs) of an inhabited and cultivated floodplain of the Kinu River, central Japan. The DSMs were based on pre-flood (resolution: 2 m) and post-flood (resolution: 1 m) aerial light detection and ranging (lidar) data from January 2007 and September 2015, respectively, and on structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry data (resolution: 3.84 cm) derived from aerial photos taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in December 2015. After elimination of systematic errors among the DSMs and down-sampling of the SfM-derived DSM, elevation changes on the order of 10−1 m – including not only topography but also growth of vegetation, vanishing of flood waters, and restoration and repair works – were detected. Comparison of the DSMs showed that the volume eroded by the flood was more than twice the deposited volume in the area within 300–500 m of the breached artificial levee, where the topography was significantly affected. The results suggest that DSMs based on a combination of UAV-SfM and lidar data can be used to quantify, rapidly and in rich detail, topographic changes on floodplains caused by floods.