Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts
Glacier calving fronts are highly dynamic environments that are becoming ubiquitous as glaciers recede and, in many cases, develop proglacial lakes. Monitoring of calving fronts is necessary to fully quantify the glacier ablation budget and to warn nearby communities of the threat of hazards, such a...
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Copernicus Publications
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 https://doaj.org/article/f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a 2023-05-15T16:21:42+02:00 Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts L. S. Taylor D. J. Quincey M. W. Smith 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 https://doaj.org/article/f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a EN eng Copernicus Publications https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/329/2023/nhess-23-329-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1561-8633 https://doaj.org/toc/1684-9981 doi:10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 1561-8633 1684-9981 https://doaj.org/article/f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Vol 23, Pp 329-341 (2023) Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 2023-01-29T01:26:40Z Glacier calving fronts are highly dynamic environments that are becoming ubiquitous as glaciers recede and, in many cases, develop proglacial lakes. Monitoring of calving fronts is necessary to fully quantify the glacier ablation budget and to warn nearby communities of the threat of hazards, such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), tsunami waves, and iceberg collapses. Time-lapse camera arrays, with structure-from-motion photogrammetry, can produce regular 3D models of glaciers to monitor changes in the ice but are seldom incorporated into monitoring systems owing to the high cost of equipment. In this proof-of-concept study at Fjallsjökull, Iceland, we present and test a low-cost, highly adaptable camera system based on Raspberry Pi computers and compare the resulting point cloud data to a reference cloud generated using an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV). The mean absolute difference between the Raspberry Pi and UAV point clouds is found to be 0.301 m with a standard deviation of 0.738 m. We find that high-resolution point clouds can be robustly generated from cameras positioned up to 1.5 km from the glacier (mean absolute difference 0.341 m, standard deviation 0.742 m). Combined, these experiments suggest that for monitoring calving events in glaciers, Raspberry Pi cameras are an affordable, flexible, and practical option for future scientific research. Owing to the connectivity capabilities of Raspberry Pi computers, this opens the possibility for real-time structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts for deployment as an early warning system to calving-triggered GLOFs. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) Resolution Point ENVELOPE(-27.117,-27.117,-59.433,-59.433) Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 23 1 329 341 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 L. S. Taylor D. J. Quincey M. W. Smith Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
topic_facet |
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Glacier calving fronts are highly dynamic environments that are becoming ubiquitous as glaciers recede and, in many cases, develop proglacial lakes. Monitoring of calving fronts is necessary to fully quantify the glacier ablation budget and to warn nearby communities of the threat of hazards, such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), tsunami waves, and iceberg collapses. Time-lapse camera arrays, with structure-from-motion photogrammetry, can produce regular 3D models of glaciers to monitor changes in the ice but are seldom incorporated into monitoring systems owing to the high cost of equipment. In this proof-of-concept study at Fjallsjökull, Iceland, we present and test a low-cost, highly adaptable camera system based on Raspberry Pi computers and compare the resulting point cloud data to a reference cloud generated using an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV). The mean absolute difference between the Raspberry Pi and UAV point clouds is found to be 0.301 m with a standard deviation of 0.738 m. We find that high-resolution point clouds can be robustly generated from cameras positioned up to 1.5 km from the glacier (mean absolute difference 0.341 m, standard deviation 0.742 m). Combined, these experiments suggest that for monitoring calving events in glaciers, Raspberry Pi cameras are an affordable, flexible, and practical option for future scientific research. Owing to the connectivity capabilities of Raspberry Pi computers, this opens the possibility for real-time structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts for deployment as an early warning system to calving-triggered GLOFs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. S. Taylor D. J. Quincey M. W. Smith |
author_facet |
L. S. Taylor D. J. Quincey M. W. Smith |
author_sort |
L. S. Taylor |
title |
Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
title_short |
Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
title_full |
Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
title_fullStr |
Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluation of low-cost Raspberry Pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
title_sort |
evaluation of low-cost raspberry pi sensors for structure-from-motion reconstructions of glacier calving fronts |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 https://doaj.org/article/f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) ENVELOPE(-27.117,-27.117,-59.433,-59.433) |
geographic |
Glacial Lake Resolution Point |
geographic_facet |
Glacial Lake Resolution Point |
genre |
glacier Iceland |
genre_facet |
glacier Iceland |
op_source |
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Vol 23, Pp 329-341 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/329/2023/nhess-23-329-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1561-8633 https://doaj.org/toc/1684-9981 doi:10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 1561-8633 1684-9981 https://doaj.org/article/f18c1906f35045a9ab8cdd9320e1770a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-329-2023 |
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Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
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23 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
329 |
op_container_end_page |
341 |
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