TOPODRONE ADVANCES AIRBORNE BATHYMETRIC SURVEYING WITH AQUAMAPPER LAUNCH

TOPODRONE, a Swiss based designer and manufacturer of high-precision LiDAR equipment for installation on drones, vehicles and backpacks, launches AQUAMAPPER, a drone-based solution for bathymetric surveying and marine construction. The new multitasking data collecting device is designed for a wide range of applications in the maritime branch and other water sources. The collected data could be combined with LiDAR data to deliver a full digital twin of a studied area.  

AQUAMAPPER is a brand-new hardware developed in-house by TOPODRONE and contributes to a complete set of photogrammetry, LiDAR and bathymetry surveying solutions.  This new product mounted on a UAV provides a combination of high-speed efficiency (up to 14 km/h) and accuracy, successfully challenging conventional methods such as boats. It is a PPK ready solution, compatible with DJI Matrice 300 RTK. The application areas include but are not limited to an open sea bathymetric survey up to 100m depth, quantity survey and calculation of sediments, periodic maintenance survey of storage pools. 

TOPODRONE LiDAR ULTRA and AQUAMAPPER have been used successfully for drone survey for the most important and challenging EU road construction project "Autostrada Sibiu – Pitești, Secțiunea 2: Boița - Cornetu" to build a highway in one of the toughest terrain in Romania. The project includes 7 tunnels, 24 bridges and 18 viaducts.

In order to provide accurate maps and uptodate information about terrain level, buildings, roads, power line networks, cadastral boundaries etc as well as rivers depth drone LiDAR corridor and bathymetric survey was performed by GRAPHEIN TOPO SA company from Romania. TOPODRONE LiDAR ULTRA on board DJI Matrice 300 drone was used to capture laser scanning data from 100 - 120 meters altitude over rugged terrain forest area to cover 32 km long and 400 meters width corridor within 14 flights and newly designed AQUAMAPPER connected to the same DJI Matrice 300 drone performed bathymetry survey over 6 river crossing. 

Fig. 1. Combination of LiDAR & Bathymetric datasets.

Fig. 2. Results of bathymetry survey.

"It is a great advantage of the bathymetric equipment from TOPODRONE that it captures riverbed with centimeters level accuracy with high speed in fully automatic mode and without using any boat. It allows us to work in hard to access and shallow water areas and the same drone carrier can be used for LiDAR & Bathymetry survey. The combination of GNSS and Inertial measurement system helps to get accurate results after data post processing providing a new standard of accuracy, efficiency and flexibility."

Andrei Sueran from GRAPHEIN TOPO SA.

Fig. 3. LiDAR & Bathymetry datasets.

Fig. 4. LiDAR & Bathymetry datasets.

Fig. 5. Classification of terrain and bathymetry data.

Fig. 6. Riverbed level and LiDAR data.

AQUAMAPPER will be showcased at INTERGEO 2022.

To learn more about the solution visit our booth F2.029.