Roads are an integral part of today's lifestyle. Indeed, a modern and efficient economy requires a satisfactory road network. The road network in the United Kingdom faces ever-increasing demands with 94% of passenger travel and 92% of freight transport undertaken by road. Maintenance of the network is essential. Prior to the commencement of any maintenance scheme, an accurate highway profile is measured by undertaking a detailed topographic survey of the road surface and the adjacent verges. Traditionally, this is carried out by land surveyors using, for example, a theodolite, EDM and level. Highway surveying by traditional methods is a slow, costly and dangerous process. A photogrammetric technique was devised by Photarc Surveys Ltd of Harrogate, UK to reduce the problems of speed, cost and safety. This helicopter based photographic system can yield topographic data at up to ±5mm rmse through photogrammetric analysis. It is necessary to install ground control points on the hard shoulder for use in the photogrammetric analysis. This research investigates the potential of both conventional aerial triangulation and in-flight GPS assisted aerial triangulation for reducing this ground control requirement. The original photographic system is extended to integrate a GPS positioning system and the performance of this system is assessed through a series of field trials. The results of the research show that the camera can be positioned by the GPS system to within 5 centimetres. The GPS positions can be included in the aerial triangulation to further reduce the requirement for ground control. It is shown that for mapping at the ± 5mm rmse level, there is no potential for height control reduction, even when GPS positions are used. However for mapping at up to ± 20mm, the GPS positions can enable a significant reduction in ground control.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:243343 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Joy, Christopher Iain Harold |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11462/ |
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