Apply for this PhD here https://applyto.newcastle.ac.uk/ using application studentship code FLOOD248. Please contact Caspar Hewett (caspar.hewett@newcastle.ac.uk) if you have any questions about the application process.
The measurement of river flow is critical to the management of water, both as a resource and as a threat in the case of flooding. Recent years have seen the development of drone based river flow monitoring methods that offer enormous potential to allow measurements to be made more efficiently, more safely and at many more locations, including during extreme flood events.
The principle is very simple; an aerial drone obtains video imagery while hovering above the river. This video is analysed with specialist velocimetry software to reveal the speed of flow of the water. When combined with information on the river’s bathymetry and hydraulics, discharge can be reported with a high degree of accuracy. However, at present, the critical bathymetric and hydraulic information must be captured using techniques that require the sensor to be placed in or on the water. This project will develop methods for obtaining this information using aerial drones alone, through the use of advanced sensor payloads and methods such as SfM, LiDAR and Ground Penetrating Radar. This will allow river discharge to be measured at a greater range of locations and conditions, with significant improvements to efficiency, accuracy and operator safety.
A range of drone-based tools and techniques will be evaluated to enable a wholly drone-based river flow measurement solution. These will include:
● Drone-based LiDAR and photogrammetry for mapping the riparian zone, floodplain and river bathymetry during low flows
● Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for verifying bathymetry during high flows when channel morphology may be changing rapidly.
Results from remotely sensed bathymetric measurements will be compared with reference datasets obtained with a range of instruments including ADCP, single and multi-beam sonar, terrestrial LiDAR and GNSS based survey techniques. Observations will be made at a variety of locations, with targeted surveys before and after significant hydrological events, such as floods and prolonged dry periods.
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Mangel, A. R., Dawson, C. B., Rey, D. M., & Briggs, M. A. (2022). Drone applications in hydrogeophysics: Recent examples and a vision for the future. The Leading Edge, 41(8), 540–547. https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41080540.1
Noviello, C., Gennarelli, G., Esposito, G., Ludeno, G., Fasano, G., Capozzoli, L., et al. (2022). An overview on down-looking UAV-based GPR systems. Remote Sensing, 14(14), 3245. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143245
