Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Detecting Surface Changes from an Underground Explosion in Granite Using Unmanned Aerial System Photogrammetry

Abstract

Efficient detection and high-fidelity quantification of surface changes resulting from underground activities are important national and global security efforts. In this investigation, a team performed field-based topographic characterization by gathering high-quality photographs at very low altitudes from an unmanned aerial system (UAS)-borne camera platform. The data collection occurred shortly before and after a controlled underground chemical explosion as part of the United States Department of Energy’s Source Physics Experiments (SPE-5) series. The high-resolution overlapping photographs were used to create 3D photogrammetric models of the site, which then served to map changes in the landscape down to 1-cm-scale. Separate models were created for two areas, herein referred to as the test table grid region and the nearfield grid region. The test table grid includes the region within ~40 m from surface ground zero, with photographs collected at a flight altitude of 8.5 m above ground level (AGL). The near-field grid area covered a broader area, 90–130 m from surface ground zero, and collected at a flight altitude of 22 m AGL. The photographs, processed using Agisoft Photoscan® in conjunction with 125 surveyed ground control point targets, yielded a 6-mm pixel-size digital elevation model (DEM) for the test table grid region. Thismore » provided the ≤3 cm resolution in the topographic data to map in fine detail a suite of features related to the underground explosion: uplift, subsidence, surface fractures, and morphological change detection. The near-field grid region data collection resulted in a 2-cm pixel-size DEM, enabling mapping of a broader range of features related to the explosion, including: uplift and subsidence, rock fall, and slope sloughing. This study represents one of the first works to constrain, both temporally and spatially, explosion-related surface damage using a UAS photogrammetric platform; these data will help to advance the science of underground explosion detection.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Coppersmith Consulting Inc., Walnut Creek, CA (United States)
  3. Gresham Smith and Partners, Nashville, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1396118
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-29246
Journal ID: ISSN 0033-4553
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Pure and Applied Geophysics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 175; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0033-4553
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Photogrammetry; unmanned aerial systems; change detection; underground explosions

Citation Formats

Schultz-Fellenz, Emily S., Coppersmith, Ryan T., Sussman, Aviva J., Swanson, Erika M., and Cooley, James A. Detecting Surface Changes from an Underground Explosion in Granite Using Unmanned Aerial System Photogrammetry. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1007/s00024-017-1649-0.
Copy to clipboard
Schultz-Fellenz, Emily S., Coppersmith, Ryan T., Sussman, Aviva J., Swanson, Erika M., & Cooley, James A. Detecting Surface Changes from an Underground Explosion in Granite Using Unmanned Aerial System Photogrammetry. United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1649-0
Copy to clipboard
Schultz-Fellenz, Emily S., Coppersmith, Ryan T., Sussman, Aviva J., Swanson, Erika M., and Cooley, James A. Sat . "Detecting Surface Changes from an Underground Explosion in Granite Using Unmanned Aerial System Photogrammetry". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1649-0. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1396118.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1396118,
title = {Detecting Surface Changes from an Underground Explosion in Granite Using Unmanned Aerial System Photogrammetry},
author = {Schultz-Fellenz, Emily S. and Coppersmith, Ryan T. and Sussman, Aviva J. and Swanson, Erika M. and Cooley, James A.},
abstractNote = {Efficient detection and high-fidelity quantification of surface changes resulting from underground activities are important national and global security efforts. In this investigation, a team performed field-based topographic characterization by gathering high-quality photographs at very low altitudes from an unmanned aerial system (UAS)-borne camera platform. The data collection occurred shortly before and after a controlled underground chemical explosion as part of the United States Department of Energy’s Source Physics Experiments (SPE-5) series. The high-resolution overlapping photographs were used to create 3D photogrammetric models of the site, which then served to map changes in the landscape down to 1-cm-scale. Separate models were created for two areas, herein referred to as the test table grid region and the nearfield grid region. The test table grid includes the region within ~40 m from surface ground zero, with photographs collected at a flight altitude of 8.5 m above ground level (AGL). The near-field grid area covered a broader area, 90–130 m from surface ground zero, and collected at a flight altitude of 22 m AGL. The photographs, processed using Agisoft Photoscan® in conjunction with 125 surveyed ground control point targets, yielded a 6-mm pixel-size digital elevation model (DEM) for the test table grid region. This provided the ≤3 cm resolution in the topographic data to map in fine detail a suite of features related to the underground explosion: uplift, subsidence, surface fractures, and morphological change detection. The near-field grid region data collection resulted in a 2-cm pixel-size DEM, enabling mapping of a broader range of features related to the explosion, including: uplift and subsidence, rock fall, and slope sloughing. This study represents one of the first works to constrain, both temporally and spatially, explosion-related surface damage using a UAS photogrammetric platform; these data will help to advance the science of underground explosion detection.},
doi = {10.1007/s00024-017-1649-0},
journal = {Pure and Applied Geophysics},
number = 9,
volume = 175,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 19 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Sat Aug 19 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1649-0
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 9 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1 Fig. 1: Location of the SPE site. a Simplified geologic map of the Climax Stock quartz monzonite, showing exposed geologic units and regional structures; note in particular the orientation of the Boundary fault. Geologic unit prefixes indicate age; $Q$ Quaternary, $T$ Tertiary, $M$ Mesozoic, $P$ Paleozoic. b Inset showing locationmore » of the Climax stock with respect to the NNSS and the state of Nevada. Modified from Houser and Poole (1961)« less
All figures and tables (14 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Topographic structure from motion: a new development in photogrammetric measurement: TOPOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE FROM MOTION
journal, January 2013

  • Fonstad, Mark A.; Dietrich, James T.; Courville, Brittany C.
  • Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 38, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1002/esp.3366

Detailed geological mapping in mountain areas using an unmanned aerial vehicle: application to the Rodoretto Valley, NW Italian Alps
journal, September 2016

Apparent Explosion Moments from Rg Waves Recorded on SPE
journal, November 2016

  • Larmat, Carene; Rougier, Esteban; Patton, Howard J.
  • Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 107, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1785/0120160163

Chemical Explosion Experiments to Improve Nuclear Test Monitoring
journal, July 2013

  • Snelson, Catherine M.; Abbott, Robert E.; Broome, Scott T.
  • Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, Vol. 94, Issue 27
  • DOI: 10.1002/2013EO270002

Remote Sensing for Landslide Investigations: An Overview of Recent Achievements and Perspectives
journal, October 2014

  • Scaioni, Marco; Longoni, Laura; Melillo, Valentina
  • Remote Sensing, Vol. 6, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.3390/rs6109600

‘Structure-from-Motion’ photogrammetry: A low-cost, effective tool for geoscience applications
journal, December 2012

Evaluation of influence of vibrations generated by blasting construction on an existing tunnel in soft soils
journal, July 2014

Monitoring Earth Surface Dynamics With Optical Imagery
journal, January 2008

  • Leprince, Sébastien; Berthier, Etienne; Ayoub, François
  • Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, Vol. 89, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1029/2008EO010001

Vertical Measurements in Oblique Aerial Imagery
journal, July 2014

  • Molinari, Massimiliano; Medda, Stefano; Villani, Samir
  • ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Vol. 3, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.3390/ijgi3030914

Analysis of LiDAR-derived topographic information for characterizing and differentiating landslide morphology and activity
journal, January 2006

Exceptional mobility of an advancing rhyolitic obsidian flow at Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile
journal, November 2013

  • Tuffen, Hugh; James, Mike R.; Castro, Jonathan M.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3709

Ground-based and UAV-Based photogrammetry: A multi-scale, high-resolution mapping tool for structural geology and paleoseismology
journal, December 2014

  • Bemis, Sean P.; Micklethwaite, Steven; Turner, Darren
  • Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 69
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2014.10.007

Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion
journal, October 2014

  • Johnson, Kendra; Nissen, Edwin; Saripalli, Srikanth
  • Geosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1130/GES01017.1

Generation of Highly Accurate Digital Elevation Models with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
journal, June 2016

  • Reshetyuk, Yuriy; Mårtensson, Stig-Göran
  • The Photogrammetric Record, Vol. 31, Issue 154
  • DOI: 10.1111/phor.12143

Rg excitation by underground explosions: insights from source modelling the 1997 Kazakhstan depth-of-burial experiment
journal, December 2005

Georeferencing experiments with UAS imagery
journal, January 2014

Straightforward reconstruction of 3D surfaces and topography with a camera: Accuracy and geoscience application: 3D SURFACES AND TOPOGRAPHY WITH A CAMERA
journal, August 2012

  • James, M. R.; Robson, S.
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, Vol. 117, Issue F3
  • DOI: 10.1029/2011JF002289

Mitigating systematic error in topographic models derived from UAV and ground-based image networks: MITIGATING SYSTEMATIC ERROR IN TOPOGRAPHIC MODELS
journal, June 2014

  • James, Mike R.; Robson, Stuart
  • Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 39, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1002/esp.3609

New Techniques to Measure Cliff Change from Historical Oblique Aerial Photographs and Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry
journal, January 2017

    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Cooperative digital magnetic‐elevation maps by small autonomous aerial robots
    journal, September 2019

    • Azpúrua, Héctor; Potje, Guilherme A.; Rezeck, Paulo A. F.
    • Journal of Field Robotics, Vol. 36, Issue 8
    • DOI: 10.1002/rob.21909
      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      Fig. 1 (p. 4)figure
      Figure 2 (p. 6)figure
      Figure 3 (p. 7)figure
      Figure 4 (p. 8)figure
      Figure 5 (p. 9)figure
      Table 1 (p. 10)table
      Figure 6 (p. 11)figure
      Figure 7 (p. 12)figure
      Figure 8 (p. 13)figure
      Figure 9 (p. 14)figure
      Figure 10 (p. 15)figure
      Figure 11 (p. 16)figure
      Figure 12 (p. 17)figure
      Figure 13 (p. 18)figure
        [ × clear filter / sort ]
        Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

        Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: