Ground-based and near-earth geomatics surveys - statement of capability, 2022

Geomatics is defined in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC 211) series of standards (Anon, 1994) as the discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, and presentation of geographic data or geographic information. This broad term applies to both science and technology, and integrates the more specific disciplines and technologies of geodesy, surveying, mapping, positioning, navigation, cartography, remote sensing, photogrammetry, and geographic information systems. The discipline of geomatics continues to be one of the fastest expanding global markets (Jones, 2015). Geomatics is driven by technology and, at present, there is a huge demand for land, hydrographic, and engineering surveyors who are able to utilise this technology fully. This is due to a high media profile, the changing nature of mapping and spatial data management worldwide, the need for faster and more accurate data gathering, and the growth in European Union and national governments' spatial data agendas and legislation. As the underpinning information provider of the land and property lifecycle, geomatics is of fundamental importance to society (Jones & Hobbs, 2021).
The most common geomatics applications in the British Geological Survey (BGS) use a terrestrial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanner (TLS) or the Pegasus Backpack mobile mapping solution (MMS) and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in order to obtain a terrestrial equivalent of an airborne LiDAR survey and create a 3D model. Combining a terrestrial LiDAR scanner with a high-resolution digital camera and a high-precision differential GNSS enables colored point-clouds, textured triangulated surfaces, or orthophotos with depth information to be accurately geo-referenced and captured. The relative distance, elevation angle and azimuthal angle between the laser and the subject are measured in each scan and, once processed, a 3D surface model can be generated. From the 3D models created, a variety of products are derived including digital surface models (DSM), digital terrain models (DTM), virtual outcrop models (VOM), cross-sections, area and volume calculations, 3D photo-realistic video “fly-throughs”, discontinuity maps, stratigraphic facies profiles, attributed 3D reservoir models, fossil assemblage maps, surface deformation feature recognition layers, soil erosion maps, cave surveys and change models. TLS allows geological outcrops to be digitally captured with unprecedented resolution and accuracy (Buckley et al., 2008). Structure from motion photogrammetry (SfM) has emerged as an alternative viable technology, whether deployed on an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or otherwise. It is lighter, more compact, cheaper to buy and repair, and has lower power requirements than TLS (Jones & Bateson, 2021). The BGS has six multi-rotor and two fixed-wing small (<20 kg) UAVs, which it uses to collect data for ground surface and geological investigations.