Generation and Utility of a Digital Surface Model Based on Archived Aerial Photographs Taken by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition

Abstract

We used Structure from Motion with Multi-View Stereo Photogrammetry (SfM–MVS) to produce a high-resolution Digital Surface Model (DSM) based on archived aerial photographs taken during the 34th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 1993. We applied this technique to aerial photos of Skarvsnes, Soya Coast, East Antarctica, and succeeded in creating a DSM with 1.4 m spatial resolution, which is sufficient for the identification of streamlined bedforms. Although a col-shaped distortion was identified in the SfM–DSM image, this was reduced by correcting the 3D surface trend estimation of the distortion. A comparison between the SfM–DSM constructed from images acquired in 1993 and the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan DSM (GSI–DSM) constructed from images acquired in 2009 revealed that a lake (Kaminotani Ike) underwent a significant rise in water level of >20 m, which exceeds the vertical root mean square error of each DSM. DSM generated using SfM–MVS can therefore be used for geomorphological studies. It can also be applied as basic data for research on global environmental changes such as ice-sheet mass balance and ice-sheet monitoring.