Karan, E P; Sivakumar, R; Irizarry, J and Guhathakurta, S (2014) Digital modeling of construction site terrain using remotely sensed data and geographic information systems analyses. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(3): 4013067, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Topography and physical characteristics of a project should be considered in the preconstruction planning for any construction site. However, many of the technologies used for generating digital models of site topography rely extensively on project site surveys. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by improving the understanding of the nature and sources of remotely sensed data for construction applications as well as the accuracy of digital terrain models (DTMs) derived from remotely sensed data. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), satellite imagery, and models provided by the USGS are three different sources of remotely sensed data that have been used in this study. It is expected that the research outcome will overcome some of the drawbacks of the existing methods for modeling site topography. The elevation values derived from these terrain models are compared with the values that have been measured in the field. The results indicate that the LiDAR-based DTM represents the best vertical accuracy in comparison to satellite-image-based and USGS DTMs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction sites; digital terrain models; geographic information system; information technologies; preconstruction planning; remote sensing |
| Index terms: | physical characteristic, information technology, satellite, body of knowledge, topography, survey, accuracy, construction site, remote sensing, geographic information system, modelling |
| Subjects: | material properties and characteristics, professional development, physical geography and landforms, geographical techniques and analysis, networking, computing systems, data collection methods, knowledge management, analytical methods, work location, research products and data |
| Topics: | Construction Materials, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Sustainability, Digital Applications, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here