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Use of a three‐dimensional laser scanner to digitally capture the topography of sand dunes in high spatial resolution
Author(s) -
Nagihara Seiichi,
Mulligan Kevin R.,
Xiong Wei
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.1026
Subject(s) - geology , digital elevation model , lidar , elevation (ballistics) , laser scanning , remote sensing , point cloud , aeolian processes , geomorphology , sand dune stabilization , scanner , laser , geometry , optics , physics , mathematics , computer science , computer vision
We herein report the results of a eld study that was designed to test the feasibility of using ground‐based LIDAR to map the topography of a sand dune in high spatial resolution. A portable Cyrax 2500 three‐dimensional (3D) laser scanner was used to digitally capture the topography of a barchan, roughly 4 m tall and 50 m long, located in the White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. We performed eleven scans around the barchan and obtained the elevation relative to the inter‐dune at at roughly 1 / 4 million points on the dune surface. The elevation point data were then interpolated to yield a continuous surface model of the dune topography with c . 10 cm spatial resolution and c . 6 mm position accuracy. The results from this eld study clearly demonstrate the potential of ground‐based LIDAR as a mapping tool for use in aeolian research and other earth science applications. The 3D surface model of the dune can describe the morphology with hitherto unprecedented detail. Moreover, the surface of the dune is mapped with a minimum of foot trafc on the dune itself. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.