Estimating the amount of excavated sediment using RTK-UAV in excavation project considering the habitat of endangered species.

Abstract

The RTK-UAV survey has evaluated only a limited number of sediment excavation cases in a project governing the status of the natural environment in the habitat of endangered species. Therefore, this study focused on excavation projects carried out by the Civil Engineering Office, which was designed to be instrumental in preserving endangered species. The project site was situated along the A River, which traverses B area. To effectively evaluate the general condition of the extent of sediment excavation performed by the RTK-UAV, DSMs were created from images captured using the RTK-UAV in September 2021 and August 2022. Differential analyses between the two time periods were performed. Vegetation height was determined from the DSM and ortho-images, and the vegetation volume was calculated based on estimates. After subtracting the vegetation deposition from the channel excavation volume, the excavated sediment volume was found to be 8,851.08 m³. The local governmentʼs calculated volume of the excavated sediment (approximately 8,332 m³) agrees with the obtained result. Thus, the potential of RTK-UAV in estimating excavated sediment volume is promising and can be used for large-scale projects.