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GETSI's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested materials developed by GETSI. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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The student materials for this module are available for offline viewing below. Downloadable versions of the instructor materials are available from this location on the instructor materials pages. Learn more about using the different versions of InTeGrate materials »

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For the Instructor

This material supports the Analyzing High Resolution Topography with TLS and SfM GETSI Module. If you would like your students to have access to this material, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing GETSI teaching materials.

Student Materials

Welcome Students!

In this module you will learn how to use cutting edge geodetic imaging technologies in the field. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry have emerged as critical tools for a range of earth science research applications from hazard assessment to change detection to stratigraphic sequence analysis. Both TLS and SfM methods generate high resolution topographic data and have widespread research applications in geodesy, geomorphology, structural geology, and other subfields of geology. You will move from learning the basics of equipment setup and survey design to being able to apply the TLS/SfM technique to geoscience field investigations and larger, societally important questions. By the end of the module you will be able to:
  1. Design and conduct a complex TLS and/or SfM survey to address a geologic research question.
  2. Articulate the societal impetus for answering a given research question.
  3. Justify why TLS and/or SfM is the appropriate method in some circumstances.
Your instructor may choose to use all the units or just select a subset based on time or available field sites. In some courses, the prepared data sets collected by others will be used instead of actual field surveying.

Unit 1-TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning): Introduction to TLS

In this introductory module, you will learn the basics of designing and conducting a TLS survey. Laser scanners emit short pulses of light and detect the returned signal as the laser light bounces off the target object. The scanner calculates the distance to the target from the time delay of the returned signal. TLS requires a range of equipment, careful planning, and many hours of scanning in order to complete a successful survey, but it yields a high resolution topographic model valuable for addressing a range of geologic research questions. Unit 1-TLS may be used alone or concurrently with Unit 1-SfM.

Unit 1-SfM (Structure from Motion): Introduction to SfM

This is another introductory unit in which you learn how to design and conduct a Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry survey. SfM method involves taking overlapping photographs of the same area or object. The processing software then creates a 3D model from changing position of the same points. SfM requires less expensive equipment and less field time but more processing time than TLS. In low-vegetation field areas, it can yield a similarly valuable high resolution topographic model applicable to a variety of geologic research questions. Unit 1-SfM may be used alone or concurrently with Unit 1-TLS.

Unit 2: Geodetic Survey of a Stratigraphic Section

Geodetic surveying techniques have many applications in sedimentology research, including lithological identification and analysis, sediment surface topography, and sequence stratigraphy. In this unit, you will design a survey of a sedimentary geologic outcrop to conduct a sequence stratigraphy analysis. The goal is to calculate deposition duration and sedimentation rate based on thicknesses extracted from the data. You will then tie these analyses back to societally important issues such as climatic change and energy extraction.

Unit 3: Geodetic Survey of a Fault Scarp

Fault scarps are the topographic evidence of earthquakes large and shallow enough to break the ground surface. They are evidence of Quaternary fault activity. In this unit, you will design a survey of a fault scarp. The goal is to create a brief report summarizing the methods used and Quaternary history of displacements on the fault and thus important information about its potential earthquake hazard.

This unit also includes an additional optional exercise in data processing (Unit 3.5), that your instructor may or may not include. If you do the data processing, you will learn to transform a point cloud into a digital elevation model (DEM) - also known as "high resolution topography". You will then be able to extract profiles of the scarp using ArcGIS and import these profiles into MATLAB to conduct hillslope diffusion analysis.

Unit 4: Geodetic Survey for Geomorphic Change Detection

One major application of geodetic surveying techniques in geoscience research is quantifying change in geomorphological settings. This is done by finding the difference between repeat surveys of the same area. This application is used for analysis of river systems, forest fire effects, landslides, or any other erosional features. In this unit you will learn to clean up the data, remove vegetation, transform the point cloud to a DEM, and then compare that DEM to a previously collected data set to quantify change.

Unit 5: Analyzing High Resolution Topography Summative Assessment

Unit 5 is a final exercise and serves as your summative assessment for the module. In it you will demonstrate your skills in survey design, survey execution, and simple data exploration and analysis.

Prepared data sets

Some courses will not be collecting data in the field and will instead be using previously collected TLS and SfM data sets. Your instructor will tell you if you should work with any of these data sets.


     

This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested materials developed by GETSI. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »