The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
TC
Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1919-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1919-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
Research article
 | 
15 Jun 2020
Research article |  | 15 Jun 2020

Improving sub-canopy snow depth mapping with unmanned aerial vehicles: lidar versus structure-from-motion techniques

Phillip Harder, John W. Pomeroy, and Warren D. Helgason

Data sets

Unmanned aerial vehicle structure from motion and lidar data for sub-canopy snow depth mapping P. Harder, J. Pomeroy, W. Helgason https://doi.org/10.20383/101.0193

Model code and software

UAV-snowdepth: UAV Snow Depth Analysis P. Harder https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3804691

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Short summary
Unmanned-aerial-vehicle-based (UAV) structure-from-motion (SfM) techniques have the ability to map snow depths in open areas. Here UAV lidar and SfM are compared to map sub-canopy snowpacks. Snow depth accuracy was assessed with data from sites in western Canada collected in 2019. It is demonstrated that UAV lidar can measure the sub-canopy snow depth at a high accuracy, while UAV-SfM cannot. UAV lidar promises to quantify snow–vegetation interactions at unprecedented accuracy and resolution.
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