Author(s): Abubakr Muhammad, Ali Ahmad, Saad Hassan, Syed M Abbas, Talha Manzoor, Karsten Berns
Linked Author(s): Abubakr Muhammad
Keywords: Unmanned aerial vehicles, sedimentation, structural inspection, big data, irrigation
Abstract: Water supply to the agricultural base in the Indus river basin is through a vast network of irrigation canals that runs thousands of kilometers in length. Most canals undergo deterioration over time due to accumulation of silt and sediment transported by the rivers. Every year a forced closure of the canals is inevitable for canal cleaning, entailing a very large scale and costly operation. This silt removal operation is prone to inefficiencies due to subjective decision making in the cleaning process, shortage of time and lack of verification. In this paper, we summarize the results from using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to assist in surveying the siltation of canals during annual channel closure. An advanced sensing system and navigation software has been deployed on board the drone to acquire terrain profiles of the canal. The profiles are were processed to identify defects in canal linings, locate and estimate silt accumulations and help the human operator to continuously monitor the excavation operation. This paper aims to bridge the theory-to-practice gap by presenting an accessible introduction of this technology to the water practitioners, summarize results from field trials and also narrate the existing practices of canal inspection for further development of automation based solution
Year: 2017