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Minerals
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Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences
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Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Exploration Methods and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 12614

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Konstantinos G. Nikolakopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Applied Geology & Geophysics, Department of Geology, University of Patras, ZC 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: GIS; remote sensing; photogrammetery; hydrology; geological mapping
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Until a few years ago, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, were introduced to the wide public either as an extremely expensive military project or as a very cheap toy for kids. The use of UAVs for research purposes has recently become possible and affordable due to technological developments such as autopilot systems, lightweight action cameras, miniature GNSS sensors, advances in carbon fiber airframes and the simultaneous development of new processing methodologies based on computer vision like the structure from motion photogrammetry. Carrying different kinds of sensors, like RGB, multispectral or thermal cameras, hyperspectral or Lidar sensors, or even ground penetrating radar and echo sounders, UAVs provide valuable information at extremely high spatial resolution and accuracy. The complexity of the above mentioned information can be well stored, described and processed within the frame of a Geographic Information System (GIS), which is defined as a set of tools for the input, storage, management, analysis and cartographic representation of geographic information. This Special Issue aims to highlight the combination of UAV data and GIS techniques for Geosciences. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Survey and mapping
  • Mine monitoring
  • Volcanology
  • Archaeology and monument inspection
  • Soil contamination
  • Coastal Erosion
  • Disaster management
  • Landslides
  • Shallow water bathymetry
  • Coral reef mapping
  • Hydrology

Dr. Konstantinos G. Nikolakopoulos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • GIS
  • Remote Sensing
  • Photogrammetery
  • GNSS
  • Multispectral cameras
  • Hyperspectral cameras
  • Thermal cameras
  • Lidar

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 15726 KiB  
Article
UAV, GIS, and Petrographic Analysis for Beachrock Mapping and Preliminary Analysis in the Compressional Geotectonic Setting of Epirus, Western Greece
by Konstantinos G. Nikolakopoulos, Ioannis K. Koukouvelas and Paraskevi Lampropoulou
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040392 - 23 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2308
Abstract
Beachrocks are generally mapped on the coastline surface and/or in a low depth in the subtidal zone in coastlines and are cemented chiefly by carbonate material. Their outcrops may vary from a tenth of meters to a tenth of kilometers in length. Along [...] Read more.
Beachrocks are generally mapped on the coastline surface and/or in a low depth in the subtidal zone in coastlines and are cemented chiefly by carbonate material. Their outcrops may vary from a tenth of meters to a tenth of kilometers in length. Along the Epirus coast, in Greece, beachrocks outcrops are laying on the coastline for more than ten kilometers. In the present work, we used Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), in situ sampling, and the Geographical Information System (GIS) to map three beachrock areas with a length of 500 m to 600 m each. In synergy with extended mineralogical and petrographic analyses, we provide preliminary data about the geographical distribution and the mineralogical differences of these beachrocks. Furthermore, for the first time, we tried to investigate the correlation between the geotectonic setting of the broader area and the beachrock extent, shape, and petrographic parameters. The laboratory analyses proved that the beachrocks belong to a similar depositional zone of a marine–vadose environment. Despite variations in the textural petrographic, features among the specimen’s analyses permit us to consider these sedimentary rocks as not a uniform outcrop. It is indicated that the beachrock formation and the cementation progress in the study area are both controlled by active reverse faults and diapiric or tectonic anticlines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences)
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20 pages, 7282 KiB  
Article
Mining Exploration with UAV, Low-Cost Thermal Cameras and GIS Tools—Application to the Specific Case of the Complex Sulfides Hosted in Carbonates of Udías (Cantabria, Spain)
by Rubén Pérez-Álvarez, Javier Sedano-Cibrián, Julio Manuel de Luis-Ruiz, Gema Fernández-Maroto and Raúl Pereda-García
Minerals 2022, 12(2), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12020140 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3148
Abstract
The depletion of natural resources implies the need for a constant search for new reserves to satisfy demand. In the mining sector, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have revolutionised geo-information capture and modelling to allow the use of low-cost sensors for prospecting and exploration [...] Read more.
The depletion of natural resources implies the need for a constant search for new reserves to satisfy demand. In the mining sector, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have revolutionised geo-information capture and modelling to allow the use of low-cost sensors for prospecting and exploration for potentially exploitable resources. A very powerful alternative for managing the huge volume of data is the Geographic Information System (GIS), which allows storage, visualisation, analysis, processing and map creation. The research in this paper validates a new quasi-automatic identification of mining resources using GIS thermal-image analysis obtained from UAVs and low-cost sensors. It was tested in a case that differentiated limestone from dolostone with varying iron content, and different thermal behaviour from solar radiation, thereby ensuring that the thermal image recorded these differences. The objective is to discriminate differences in an image in a quasi-automatic way using GIS tools and ultimately to determine outcrops that could contain mineralisation. The comparison between the proposed method with traditional precision alternatives offered differences of only 4.57%, a very small deviation at this early stage of exploration. Hence, it can be considered very suitable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences)
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26 pages, 12442 KiB  
Article
Mapping Potentially Acid Generating Material on Abandoned Mine Lands Using Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems
by Alison S. Cramer, Wendy M. Calvin, Scott W. McCoy, Ronald J. Breitmeyer, Marja Haagsma and Christopher Kratt
Minerals 2021, 11(4), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040365 - 31 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2934
Abstract
Weathering and transport of potentially acid generating material (PAGM) at abandoned mines can degrade downstream environments and contaminate water resources. Monitoring the thousands of abandoned mine lands (AMLs) for exposed PAGM using field surveys is time intensive. Here, we explore the use of [...] Read more.
Weathering and transport of potentially acid generating material (PAGM) at abandoned mines can degrade downstream environments and contaminate water resources. Monitoring the thousands of abandoned mine lands (AMLs) for exposed PAGM using field surveys is time intensive. Here, we explore the use of Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPASs) as a complementary remote sensing platform to map the spatial and temporal changes of PAGM across a mine waste rock pile on an AML. We focus on testing the ability of established supervised and unsupervised classification algorithms to map PAGM on imagery with very high spatial resolution, but low spectral sampling. At the Perry Canyon, NV, USA AML, we carried out six flights over a 29-month period, using a RPAS equipped with a 5-band multispectral sensor measuring in the visible to near infrared (400–1000 nm). We built six different 3 cm resolution orthorectified reflectance maps, and our tests using supervised and unsupervised classifications revealed benefits to each approach. Supervised classification schemes allowed accurate mapping of classes that lacked published spectral libraries, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) and efflorescent mineral salts (EMS). The unsupervised method produced similar maps of PAGM, as compared to supervised schemes, but with little user input. Our classified multi-temporal maps, validated with multiple field and lab-based methods, revealed persistent and slowly growing ‘hotspots’ of jarosite on the mine waste rock pile, whereas EMS exhibit more rapid fluctuations in extent. The mapping methods we detail for a RPAS carrying a broadband multispectral sensor can be applied extensively to AMLs. Our methods show promise to increase the spatial and temporal coverage of accurate maps critical for environmental monitoring and reclamation efforts over AMLs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences)
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26 pages, 26995 KiB  
Article
Repeated UAV Campaigns, GNSS Measurements, GIS, and Petrographic Analyses for Landslide Mapping and Monitoring
by Aggeliki Kyriou, Konstantinos Nikolakopoulos, Ioannis Koukouvelas and Paraskevi Lampropoulou
Minerals 2021, 11(3), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11030300 - 13 Mar 2021
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 3248
Abstract
Landslides are posing a significant global hazard as they occur instantaneously with devastating consequences. The development of new remote sensing technologies and innovative processing techniques over the past few years opened up new horizons and perspectives in landslide monitoring research. The purpose of [...] Read more.
Landslides are posing a significant global hazard as they occur instantaneously with devastating consequences. The development of new remote sensing technologies and innovative processing techniques over the past few years opened up new horizons and perspectives in landslide monitoring research. The purpose of the current research is the integrated monitoring of an active landslide, located in Western Greece, using low-cost and high-repeatability remote sensing data like those obtained by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Repeated UAV campaigns and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) surveys were performed to assess the activity of the landslide and determine its kinematic behavior. UAV data were processed using structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry and the generated high-detailed orthophotos and digital surface models (DSMs) were submitted in further processing procedure in an ArcGIS environment. Regarding the GNSS data, a new low-cost technique for the estimation of the direction and the rate of movement of the displaced material was developed. The repeated measurements were displayed in a vector format in a three-axis diagram. In addition, GNSS measurements were used to verify the results of the photogrammetric processing. The final assessment was carried out taking into account geological data such as petrographic and crystallographic features of the material of the landslide. It was observed that the lithology and consequently the petrographic properties of the material plays a key role regarding the activity of the landslide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of UAV and GIS for Geosciences)
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