Detecting morphology changes due to oyster reefs in a tidal basin using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Abstract

Several programs have been written to process laser scan data from two shoals in the Netherlands. The first makes a grid of heights, the second calculates deformations and makes plots. The third utilises a variogram to obtain information about the amplitude, direction and wavelength of tidal ripples, which are processed and plotted by a fourth program. Six scans have been made in order to compare the elevation of the scanner and the high-speed and long-range settings, from which it is found that the elevation is an important factor: a higher elevation results in a better coverage at mid- to long-range distances. For flat areas the long-range setting is not useful, as the area scanned increases by a factor two, whilst the scanning time triples. For areas with stark relief however, the long-range setting increases the scanned area with a factor nine.