Photo: YellowScan

Xer Technologies and YellowScan have partnered to integrate the YellowScan Navigator bathymetric system into Xer Technologies’ UAVs. This collaboration aims to enhance UAVs’ capabilities for conducting long-range bathymetric surveys and underwater inspections, which are essential in various fields such as environmental monitoring, coastal management, and infrastructure development.

The integrated system allows users to collect high-resolution and accurate bathymetric data, even in challenging aquatic environments. YellowScan’s green laser lidar technology is a key component of this system, providing precise underwater mapping capabilities. Xer Technologies’ UAVs are designed for extended flight durations and can operate for more than two hours, facilitating coverage of larger survey areas in a single mission. This feature is particularly beneficial for projects that require extensive data collection over vast aquatic regions.

The YellowScan Navigator can achieve a precision of 3 cm and can operate at a maximum altitude of 100 m above ground level. The laser has a range of up to 120 m and features a scanner field-of-view of 44 °. It weighs 3.7 kg.

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Image: YellowScan

YellowScan has released its new bathymetric lidar system, the YellowScan Navigator.

The environmental hazards of climate change have an impact on human activities and infrastructure, such as drier seasons or heavy rains and flooding rivers. Precisely mapping both waterbed and land is required for monitoring, modeling and mitigating coastal erosion and flood hazards and for understanding biodiversity habits.

YellowScan Navigator is designed for surveyors to map underwater topography, in rivers, ponds and coastal areas.

The system features a laser scanner developed in-house over the course of five years and has been heavily tested to achieve optimal performance. The compact system can map waterbeds with a depth of up to three meters and can reach a depth of 18 meters in perfectly clear water conditions, according to the company. It can be flown up to 100m above the water surface and provides measurements with a precision accuracy of 3 cm. Additionally, a camera is embedded to offer true-color data visualization.

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Image: CHCNAV

CHC Navigation (CHCNAV) has launched the Apache 3 Pro, a compact hydrographic uncrewed surface vessel (USV) designed for autonomous bathymetric surveys in shallow waters. A lightweight carbon fiber hull with IP67-rated ingress protection and semi-recessed motor provides durability and maneuverability.

Featuring CHCNAV’s GNSS RTK + inertial navigation sensor, the Apache 3 Pro offers consistent, high-precision positioning and heading data even when navigating under bridges or in areas with obstructed satellite signals. The built-in CHCNAV D270 echosounder allows for reliable depth measurement from 0.2 to 40 meters.

The Apache 3 Pro is also equipped with a millimeter-wave radar system that detects obstacles within a wide 110° field of view. When an obstacle is encountered, the USV autonomously charts a new course to safely navigate around it. The vessel uses both 4G and 2.4GHz networks to facilitate effective data transfer.

Weighing only 10 kg, it features a lightweight macromolecular polyester carbon fiber and Kevlar composite hull for improved resilience. Even with a fully integrated payload, the USV can be easily deployed and controlled by a single operator in a variety of environmental conditions.

The Apache 3 Pro ensures reliable communications through its integrated SIM and network bridge with automatic switching. It also features seamless cloud-based remote monitoring that offers real-time status updates to enhance control and security. Its semi-recessed brushless internal rotor motors minimize drafts, which can improve the USV’s maneuverability in varying water depths.

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Image: RIEGL

RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH and Schiebel have successfully completed the integration of a laser scanning system, the RIEGL VQ-840-G topo-bathymetric lidar sensor, on the Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS. The RIEGL VQ-840-G, combined with the technical specifications and performance of the CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS, enables an efficient and secure way for surveying shallow waters, where monitoring from boats becomes a challenge.

The applications of airborne lidar bathymetry include the mapping of coastlines and riverbanks, as well as the monitoring of natural habitats, water reservoirs and hydraulic engineering applications.

In a single data acquisition mission, data below and above the water surface are covered.

Image: RIEGL

Additionally, the topographic laser scanners RIEGL VUX-1UAV/-LR and VUX-12023 can be integrated in the front payload bay of the CAMCOPTER S-100.

The VQ-840-G topo-bathymetric laser scanner is designed for use in a variety of maritime and hydrographic environments. The lidar sensor payload system is controlled remotely via a data link, which was crucial for the integration into the S-100 system.

The scanner is controlled by using the onboard software RiACQUIRE-Embedded via the available data link; data acquisition and laser safety are also monitored. Once the survey is completed, the raw data seamlessly integrates into the RIEGL data processing workflow.

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Image: TOPODRONE

On Jan. 12, TOPODRONE used its synchronized lidar, airborne photogrammetry and bathymetric surveying methods to study a floating solar farm in Israel. This was completed upon request from the UAV service provider ERELIS, to help conduct a pilot project of reservoir surveying with a UAV for ETZ HADEKEL in northern Israel.

As the surface of the reservoir in Northern Israel is covered by solar panels, it is difficult to use standard methods of surveying from a boat. The goal of this study was to create 3D models, which can be used for high-precision assessments of sediment volumes, general monitoring of reservoir banks and visual monitoring.

Image:  TOPODRONE

During this project, ERELIS performed two-stage UAV surveying to create the 3D model of the reservoir. In the first stage, aerial photogrammetry and lidar surveys were performed using a DJI M300 UAV. The UAV was equipped with the P61 TOPODRONE camera and a lidar high-resolution system to determine the location of obstacles. The lidar scanning provided accurate detection of cables in the water.

The second stage included an underwater bathymetric survey using the TOPODRONE AQUAMAPPER mounted to the DJI M300 UAV. The flight mission was planned and executed with the UgCS software by SPH Engineering.

All data collected from the study was processed by TOPODRONE Post Processing software. This generated a georeferenced orthophoto map, a 3D model of the relief and objects, a 3D model of the bottom of the reservoir and a model of contour lines and isobaths.

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AQUAMAPPER contributes to a complete set of photogrammetry, lidar and bathymetry surveying solutions from TOPODRONE. The product, compatible with the DJI Matrice 300 RTK, provides a combination of high-speed efficiency (up to 14 km/h) and accuracy mounted on a UAV. The application areas include an open sea bathymetric survey up to 100m depth, quantity survey and calculation of sediments and periodic maintenance survey of storage pools.

Photo: TOPODRONE

The new data-collecting device has been successfully used alongside TOPODRONE’s LiDAR ULTRA equipment for airborne surveying at a highway construction project in one of the toughest terrains in Romania, EU, including 7 tunnels, 24 bridges and 18 viaducts. The project was performed by the Romanian company GRAPHEIN TOPO SA to deliver a full digital twin of a studied area.

Photo: TOPODRONE

The TOPODRONE LiDAR ULTRA on board a DJI M300 drone was used to capture laser scanning data from an altitude of 100 m to 120 m over rugged terrain forest area to cover a corridor 32 km long and 400 meters wide in 14 flights while AQUAMAPPER connected to the same DJI M300 drone performed a bathymetric survey over six river crossings.

“The key advantage of the new bathymetric equipment from TOPODRONE is the ability to capture a riverbed with centimeter-level accuracy with high speed in fully automatic mode and without using any boat,” said Andrei Sueran of GRAPHIEN TOPO SA. “The combination of an echosounder, GNSS and inertial measurement system helps to get accurate results after data post-processing.”

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Image: Leica Geosystems

The new Leica Chiroptera-5 is a high-performance airborne bathymetric lidar sensor for coastal and inland water surveys.

Offered by Leica Geosystems, Chiroptera-5 provides 40% higher point density, a 20% increase in water-depth penetration, and improved topographic sensitivity for generating more detailed hydrographic maps.

The technology increases the depth penetration, point density and topographic sensitivity of the sensor compared to previous generations. It delivers high-resolution lidar data supporting applications such as nautical charting, coastal infrastructure planning, environmental monitoring and landslide and erosion risk assessments.

Chiroptera-5 combines airborne bathymetric and topographic lidar sensors with a four-band camera to collect seamless data from the seabed to land. With a higher pulse repetition frequency (PRF), the new technology increases point density by 40% compared to the previous generation system, collecting more data during every survey flight.

Improved electronics and optics increase water-depth penetration by 20% and double the hydrographic sensitivity to capture larger areas of submerged terrain and objects with greater detail. The high-performance sensor is designed to fit a stabilizing mount, enabling more efficient area coverage, which decreases operational costs and carbon footprint of mapping projects.

Leica Geosystems’ signature bathymetric workflow supports the sensor’s performance. Introducing near real-time data processing enables coverage analysis immediately after landing, allowing operators to quality control the data quickly before demobilizing the system.

The Leica Lidar Survey Studio (LSS) processing suite provides full waveform analysis and offers automatic calibration, refraction correction and data classification, as well as advanced turbid water enhancement.

Supporting environmental research

Combining superior resolution, depth penetration and topographic sensitivity, Chiroptera-5 provides substantial benefits for various environmental applications such as shoreline erosion monitoring, flood simulation and prevention, and benthic habitat classification.

Bundled with the FAAS/EASA-certified helicopter pod, the system enables advanced terrain-following flying paths for efficient river mapping and complex coastlines surveys. Owners of previous-generation systems are offered an easy upgrade path to Chiroptera-5 to add capabilities to their existing sensor and leverage their initial investment.

“The first-generation Chiroptera airborne sensor was flown in 2012. During its 10 years of operation, the system has seen constant evolution that continuously improved the productivity and efficiency of the entire bathymetric surveying industry,” said Anders Ekelund, vice president of airborne bathymetry at Hexagon. “By collecting detailed data of coastal areas and inland waters, Chiroptera-5 provides an invaluable source of information that supports better decision making, especially for environmental monitoring and management, in line with Hexagon’s commitment to a more sustainable future.”

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A drone equipped with an echo sounder surveys the Dead Sea. (Photo: SPH Engineering)

Israeli drone service provider ERELIS has conducted a number of pilot projects using a drone equipped with a single-beam echo sounder in the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. The data was validated by authorized local surveyors and reports from previous surveys of the same areas by the Michmoret Campus, Faculty of Marine Science.

The reference bathymetric data was collected using a manned boat and multi-beam and single-beam echo sounders and demonstrated a good match between the results of new drone-based and traditional methods.

The bathymetric system consisted of a standard commercial DJI drone (UgCS SkyHub onboard computer and terrain-following system with radar altimeter) and Echologger ECT400 single-beam echo sounder provided by SPH Engineering, Latvia. For data processing, the Eye4Software Hydromagic software package was employed.

“I was surprised by the maneuverability of the system and how easy it is to conduct bathymetric surveys using a UAV equipped with an echo sounder,” said Roman Kirsanov, CEO of ERELIS. “Some of our survey areas were 400 to 500 meters away from take-off and landing positions, and that means that remote sensing comes to the world of hydrography and becomes available to any drone service companies.”

Screenshot: SPH Engineering

“It was good to see that applicability of our system with a single-beam echo sounder validated in conditions outside of its initial focus on small-scale surveys of inland water bodies,” said Alexey Dobrovolskiy, CTO of SPH Engineering. “We can now recommend our system for small-scale surveys in coastal areas and virtually in any liquids. The density of water in the Dead Sea is 1.24 kg/l.”

In May, SPH Engineering launched a UAV integrated with an echo sounder, as a new product for bathymetric surveys of inland and coastal waters. This data-collection method has since been used in Denmark and the UAE, and is suitable for mapping, measuring and inspections, as well as environmental monitoring.

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