The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments

James Slingsby; Beth E. Scott; Louise Kregting; Jason McIlvenny; Jared Wilson; Marion Yanez; Benjamin J. Williamson

The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments

James Slingsby^*, Beth E. Scott, Louise Kregting, Jason McIlvenny, Jared Wilson, Marion Yanez, Benjamin J. Williamson

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Natural and Built Environment

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

72 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, offer the ability to collect cost-effective fine-scale imagery that is suitable for the capture of concurrent hydrodynamic and faunal data within tidal stream environments. This is a necessary stage of information gathering to inform tidal energy device design, advise control and maintenance strategies and better inform environmental consenting processes. For this study a total of sixty-three UAV surveys were undertaken within the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland, UK, over two 4-day periods in 2016 and 2018. The aims of this data collection effort were to characterize bathymetrically driven hydrodynamic features, comprising of kolk-boil distribution, presence, and area, as well as marine life such as seabird distributions, presence, and orientation relative to the flow. To achieve this, a method to extract quantifiable metrics from UAV imagery was required. This paper details the processes and methodology to create a graphical user interface (GUI) to provide these outputs rather than examining specific results. It includes an explanation of the criteria that the GUI needed to meet to be able to process the imagery, a description of the workflow and an explanation of the sub-routines required such as image registration and calibration. The outputs of the GUI, and their relevance to tidal energy developments, are also discussed. Finally, this paper details future work incorporating computer vision techniques to improve the accuracy, reliability, and processing speed of the GUI.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021: Proceedings
Pages	2176-1-2176-7
Publication status	Published - 01 Aug 2022
Event	14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021 - Virtual, Online Duration: 05 Sept 2021 → 09 Sept 2021

Publication series

Name	The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)
Publisher	EWTEC 2021
ISSN (Print)	2706-6932
ISSN (Electronic)	2706-6940

Conference

Conference	14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021
City	Virtual, Online
Period	05/09/2021 → 09/09/2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Bryden Centre project, supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Aspects of this research were also funded by a Royal Society Research Grant [RSG\R1\180430] and the NERC VertIBase project [NE/N01765X/1].

Publisher Copyright:
© European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021.

Keywords

Drones
Environmental monitoring
Image processing
Kolk-boils
Seabirds
Tidal turbines

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Ocean Engineering
Water Science and Technology

Access to Document

The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environmentsAccepted author manuscript, 542 KBLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

@inproceedings{138c30068c8f438dadb4657dfb489ff6,

title = "The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments",

abstract = "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, offer the ability to collect cost-effective fine-scale imagery that is suitable for the capture of concurrent hydrodynamic and faunal data within tidal stream environments. This is a necessary stage of information gathering to inform tidal energy device design, advise control and maintenance strategies and better inform environmental consenting processes. For this study a total of sixty-three UAV surveys were undertaken within the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland, UK, over two 4-day periods in 2016 and 2018. The aims of this data collection effort were to characterize bathymetrically driven hydrodynamic features, comprising of kolk-boil distribution, presence, and area, as well as marine life such as seabird distributions, presence, and orientation relative to the flow. To achieve this, a method to extract quantifiable metrics from UAV imagery was required. This paper details the processes and methodology to create a graphical user interface (GUI) to provide these outputs rather than examining specific results. It includes an explanation of the criteria that the GUI needed to meet to be able to process the imagery, a description of the workflow and an explanation of the sub-routines required such as image registration and calibration. The outputs of the GUI, and their relevance to tidal energy developments, are also discussed. Finally, this paper details future work incorporating computer vision techniques to improve the accuracy, reliability, and processing speed of the GUI.",

keywords = "Drones, Environmental monitoring, Image processing, Kolk-boils, Seabirds, Tidal turbines",

author = "James Slingsby and Scott, \{Beth E.\} and Louise Kregting and Jason McIlvenny and Jared Wilson and Marion Yanez and Williamson, \{Benjamin J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by the Bryden Centre project, supported by the European Union{\textquoteright}s INTERREG VA Programme, and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Aspects of this research were also funded by a Royal Society Research Grant [RSG\textbackslash{}R1\textbackslash{}180430] and the NERC VertIBase project [NE/N01765X/1]. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021.; 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021 ; Conference date: 05-09-2021 Through 09-09-2021",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "1",

language = "English",

series = "The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)",

publisher = "EWTEC 2021",

pages = "2176--1--2176--7",

booktitle = "European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021: Proceedings",

}

Slingsby, J, Scott, BE, Kregting, L, McIlvenny, J, Wilson, J, Yanez, M & Williamson, BJ 2022, The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments. in European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021: Proceedings. The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC), pp. 2176-1-2176-7, 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021, Virtual, Online, 05/09/2021.

The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments. / Slingsby, James; Scott, Beth E.; Kregting, Louise et al.
European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021: Proceedings. 2022. p. 2176-1-2176-7 (The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments

AU - Slingsby, James

AU - Scott, Beth E.

AU - Kregting, Louise

AU - McIlvenny, Jason

AU - Wilson, Jared

AU - Yanez, Marion

AU - Williamson, Benjamin J.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the Bryden Centre project, supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Aspects of this research were also funded by a Royal Society Research Grant [RSG\R1\180430] and the NERC VertIBase project [NE/N01765X/1]. Publisher Copyright: © European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021.

PY - 2022/8/1

Y1 - 2022/8/1

N2 - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, offer the ability to collect cost-effective fine-scale imagery that is suitable for the capture of concurrent hydrodynamic and faunal data within tidal stream environments. This is a necessary stage of information gathering to inform tidal energy device design, advise control and maintenance strategies and better inform environmental consenting processes. For this study a total of sixty-three UAV surveys were undertaken within the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland, UK, over two 4-day periods in 2016 and 2018. The aims of this data collection effort were to characterize bathymetrically driven hydrodynamic features, comprising of kolk-boil distribution, presence, and area, as well as marine life such as seabird distributions, presence, and orientation relative to the flow. To achieve this, a method to extract quantifiable metrics from UAV imagery was required. This paper details the processes and methodology to create a graphical user interface (GUI) to provide these outputs rather than examining specific results. It includes an explanation of the criteria that the GUI needed to meet to be able to process the imagery, a description of the workflow and an explanation of the sub-routines required such as image registration and calibration. The outputs of the GUI, and their relevance to tidal energy developments, are also discussed. Finally, this paper details future work incorporating computer vision techniques to improve the accuracy, reliability, and processing speed of the GUI.

AB - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, offer the ability to collect cost-effective fine-scale imagery that is suitable for the capture of concurrent hydrodynamic and faunal data within tidal stream environments. This is a necessary stage of information gathering to inform tidal energy device design, advise control and maintenance strategies and better inform environmental consenting processes. For this study a total of sixty-three UAV surveys were undertaken within the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland, UK, over two 4-day periods in 2016 and 2018. The aims of this data collection effort were to characterize bathymetrically driven hydrodynamic features, comprising of kolk-boil distribution, presence, and area, as well as marine life such as seabird distributions, presence, and orientation relative to the flow. To achieve this, a method to extract quantifiable metrics from UAV imagery was required. This paper details the processes and methodology to create a graphical user interface (GUI) to provide these outputs rather than examining specific results. It includes an explanation of the criteria that the GUI needed to meet to be able to process the imagery, a description of the workflow and an explanation of the sub-routines required such as image registration and calibration. The outputs of the GUI, and their relevance to tidal energy developments, are also discussed. Finally, this paper details future work incorporating computer vision techniques to improve the accuracy, reliability, and processing speed of the GUI.

KW - Drones

KW - Environmental monitoring

KW - Image processing

KW - Kolk-boils

KW - Seabirds

KW - Tidal turbines

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85120032474

T3 - The European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)

SP - 2176-1-2176-7

BT - European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2021: Proceedings

T2 - 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, EWTEC 2021

Y2 - 5 September 2021 through 9 September 2021

ER -

The bigger picture: developing a graphical user interface to process UAV imagery of tidal stream environments

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this