Unmanned Aerial Systems for Pipeline Inspection, Monitoring, and Landscape Analysis

The proposed project consists of three phases. In phase 1, the research team will fly two different one-mile-long pipeline corridors during each season of the year to capture different phenology and wetness conditions. The sensors the team will fly include natural color, LiDAR, thermal, and hyperspectral. In phase 2, the team will process the imagery to produce structure from motion elevation data as well as LiDAR point clouds, and orthophotos of the multiband imagery. A thermal camera equipped on the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) will be georeferenced to be used with the other data sets. A hyperspectral camera with a field spectrometer will help in mapping unique vegetation as well as soil conditions – specifically water retention to better predict slips. In phase 3, the team will analyze the marginal contribution of each dataset to determine the best overall utility obtained from the data sources under budget and time constraints. The results will provide a cost-effective approach for monitoring and management of pipeline corridors.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • USDOT Research Hub DisplayID 157821

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $250000
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

  ,    
• Managing Organizations:

  West Virginia University

  Morgantown, WV  United States  26506-6103
• Project Managers:

  Zhou, Zhongquan

• Start Date: 20190901
• Expected Completion Date: 20220901
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Pipeline Safety
• Subprogram: CAAP

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Drones; Inspection; Laser radar; Pipelines
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Pipelines; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01867788
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 16 2022 2:15PM