APPLICATION OF UAVLS TO RAPID GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS

Three-dimensional scanning with LiDAR has been widely used in geological surveys. The LiDAR with high accuracy is promoting geoscience quantification. And it will be much more convenient, efficient and useful when combining it with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). This study focuses on UAV-based Laser Scanning (UAVLS)geological field mapping, taking two examples to present advantages of the UAVLS in contrast with other mapping methods. For its usage in active fault mapping, we scanned the Nanpo village site on the Zhangxian segment of the West Qinling north-edge fault. It effectively removed the effects of buildings and vegetation, and uncovered the fault trace. We measured vertical offset of 1.3m on the terrace T₁ at the Zhang river. Moreover, we also scanned landslide features at the geological hazard observatory of Lanzhou University in the loess area. The scanning data can help understand how micro-topography affects activation of loess landslides. The UAVLS is time saving in the field, only spending about half an hour to scan each site. The amount of average points per meter is about 600, which can offer topography data with resolution of centimeter. The results of this study show that the UAVLS is expected to become a common, efficient and economic mapping tool.