AbstractUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently received attention in various research fields for their ability to perform measurements, surveillance, and operations in hazardous areas. Our application is volcano surveillance, in which we used an unmanned autonomous helicopter to conduct a dense low-altitude aeromagnetic survey over Tarumae Volcano, northern Japan.In autonomous flight, we demonstrated positioning control with an accuracy of ~10 m, which would be difficult for an ordinary crewed vehicle. In contrast to ground-based magnetic measurement, which is highly susceptible to local anomalies, the field gradient in the air with a terrain clearance of 100 to 300 m was fairly small at 1 nT/m. This result suggests that detection of temporal changes of an order of 10 nT may be feasible through a direct comparison of magnetic data between separate surveys by means of such a system, rather than that obtained by upward continuation to a common reduction surface. We assessed the temporal magnetic changes in the air, assuming the same remagnetising source within the volcano that was recently determined through ground surveys. We conclude that these expected temporal changes would reach a detection level in several years through a future survey in the air with the same autonomous vehicle.Key words:: aeromagnetic surveygeomagnetismTarumae Volcanounmanned autonomous helicopter AcknowledgementsWe sincerely thank Muroran Development and Construction Department, HRDB, for cooperation in the field experiments by offering the use of their unmanned helicopter system. We are grateful to Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, for their technical support in the field operation. We used the 10 m mesh digital elevation map published by Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, for the inversion of magnetic anomalies. Special thanks are extended to Satoshi Okuyama of Hokkaido University for his effort in pre-processing the DEM data. This study was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan, under its Observation and Research Program for Prediction of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions. Comments and suggestions of Dr Mark Dransfield, two anonymous reviewers and Dr Mark Lackie, the Associate Editor, contributed to improve the manuscript.
The aim of our study is to realize the useful method to revise GIS in high-frequent with stereo cameras. This paper describes a basic study that measures the size of a building with stereo measurement. Concretely, experimental results show the possibility to measure targets indoors and outdoors. The portable stereo camera on board the captive balloon measures the size of a distant building. Progress of this study can provide 3D coordinates for updating of maps. And, this study is necessary to offer the useful information for the groundwork for reconstruction from the disaster.
Abstract A high-resolution Digital Surface Model and a commercial digital camera have enabled precise and continuous monitoring of the crater lake at Aso volcano. From July 2006 onwards, infrared (IR) thermometry has been used with this system, enabling more accurate measurements of lake volume and temperature based on simple and intensive observations than has been possible in any other previous studies. The heat discharge remained largely constant at approximately 220 MW, with the exception of an abrupt increase to 280 MW that coincided with a rapid decrease in the water level in August 2007. Simultaneously, an increase in temperature at a shallow depth was suggested by other observations. The crater lake was found to respond to even slight changes in volcanic fluid supply, which can be well quantified by our method. Thus, a crater lake can be monitored more precisely than subaerial fumaroles whose energy estimation is often accompanied by large uncertainties. Our monitoring technique of a crater lake provides information on the subsurface hydrothermal system beneath it, for which any in-situ measurements are practically impossible.