Rpas in the support for photogrammetry education: Cases in topographic mapping and documentation of historical monuments

Abstract

Currently on the world market there are several models and manufacturers of RPAS-UAV. This equipment made it possible to complete the entire flow of the photogrammetric mapping process in teaching for the students of the Cartographic Engineering course. In the Institute of Geosciences, this course already counted on the photogrammetric stations, equipped with hardware for 3D visualization (graphic card, high-speed monitors and stereoscopic vision glasses), photogrammetric software for data processing, and equipment for geodetic measurement control points. Before the acquisition of the RPAS, for the accomplishment of the academic works, it was necessary to buy or to look for in donations from companies of aerial photographs, that did not always correspond to an area of scientific interest. In addition, the scenes in the photos were not current, and it was impossible to have control points that were pre-signalized. From the availability of the RPAS in the University, the students began to have more interest by Photogrammetry in their professional end of coursework and throughout the disciplines. It became possible to carry out in practice all the processes involved in the mapping of nearby areas of interest, from the planning to the generation of photogrammetric products, such as the generation of DTM (Digital Terrain Model), DEM (Digital Elevation Model), orthophotomaps and extraction of features. In addition to products related to the 3D mapping of terrains, mainly through the RPAS of rotating wings, there was also the possibility of mapping and reconstructing 3D structures, such as buildings of historical monuments.