Assessment on the Feasibility of the Pipeline Survey Using Unmanned Aircraft System

It is necessary to build a pipeline spatial position and attribute management system because public utility pipelines play a critical role to maintain people's life and safety [1]. However, a traditional Pipeline Field Survey with high accuracy is a complicate but a costly and time consuming task. Recently, UAS can produce true orthophoto as well as 3-D point clouds with center-meter GSD resolution. It becomes an essential tool to improve the procedure of traditional pipeline survey. This study propose a procedure to measure the spatial coordinates related to pipeline survey as an alternative method with partial field survey works to increase the efficiency of pipeline survey. We conclude that the proposed UAS photogrammetry procedure increases 50% efficiency in terms of required time compared to traditional pipeline survey. On the other hand, it decreases 60% of survey cost and 70% of the required man power compared to traditional Pipeline Survey.