Mapping snow depth in alpine terrain with unmanned aerial systems (UASs): potential and limitations

Bühler, Yves; Adams, Marc S.; Bösch, Ruedi; Stoffel, Andreas

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1075-2016

Articles | Volume 10, issue 3

The Cryosphere, 10, 1075–1088, 2016

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1075-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

The Cryosphere, 10, 1075–1088, 2016

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1075-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 3

Research article 23 May 2016

Research article | 23 May 2016

Mapping snow depth in alpine terrain with unmanned aerial systems (UASs): potential and limitations

Yves Bühler et al.

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1075-2016-supplement

Video supplement

Animation of snow depth at Brämabühl Yves Bühler, Marc Adams, Rudi Bösch, Andreas Stoffel https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2770.5204

Short summary

We map the distribution of snow depth at two alpine test sites with unmanned aerial system (UAS) data by applying structure-from-motion photogrammetry. In comparison with manual snow depth measurements, we find high accuracies of 7 to 15 cm for the snow depth values. We can prove that photogrammetric measurements on snow-covered terrain are possible. Underlaying vegetation such as bushes and grass leads to an underestimation of snow depth in the range of 10 to 50 cm.