Photogrammetry of shallow water bottom through water surface

Abstract

With the advent of handy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and user-friendly software implementing automated reconstruction techniques (i.e., Structure from Motion and Multi-View Stereo), the through-water photogrammetry of shallow river/sea bottom has attracted attention as a cost-efficient and high-resolution survey technique. In this paper, its methodology and limitations are discussed with some emphasis on the effects of refraction at the water surface and its ignorance in common software packages.