Quantitative estimation of sand dunes using UAV imaging in Sistan sub-arid region

Subject Areas : Natural resources and environmental management

saeed pourmorteza ¹ , Hamid Gholami ² , Alireza Rashki ³ , Navaz Moradi ⁴

1 - Department of Natural Resources Engineering, University of Hormozgan, Bandar-Abbas, Hormozgan, Iran
2 - Department of natural resources engineering, University of Hormozgan
3 - Department of Desert and Arid zone Management, Faculty Natural Resources and Environment, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
4 - Department of natural resources engineering, University of Hormozgan

Received: 2022-04-18 Accepted : 2022-05-16 Published : 2023-09-23

Keywords: UAV, sand dune, Sistan Plain, Quantification,

Abstract :

Sand dunes are one of the most important facies of wind erosion. Our understanding of the complex interactions of sand dunes is often limited by the lack of accurate morphological data. The erosion and sedimentation process is very important and there is currently a lack of field data for executive projects, study plans and validation of erosion and sedimentation models. Images of the study area were taken using a Phantom 4 Pro UAV at an altitude of 60 meters on September 22, 2019. This type of UAV, which is small and light, with its 20-megapixel camera and GPS, can provide high quality images. After separating the dunes, a three-dimensional area in terms of square meters and volume in terms of cubic meters were obtained. And the product of a small amount of bulk density of soil in terms of cubic centimeters and the volume of dunes in terms of cubic meters The weight of the dunes was obtained in terms of tons.In the study, the slope percentage and sediment height were determined based on the windward part and the wind shelter of the dune The highest wind area was slope 10-20% And the maximum sediment is in the slope of 70-100% And in the wind shelter, the maximum area was on a slope of 30-50% And the highest sediment was determined in the slope of 70-100% .