Inspecting Unattended Irrigation Canals of Dujiangyan in Mountainous Area with UAV Remote Sensing Technology

A study demonstrates the feasibility and potential of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for rapid inspection of unattended irrigation canals, particularly in mountainous areas. The research focuses on the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which irrigates about 1 million hectares of farmland in Sichuan Basin, China. UAVs were employed to capture high-resolution images along the Renmin Canal, enabling aerial triangulation and the generation of Digital Surface Models (DSM) and Digital Orthophoto Maps (DOM). These data were then used for confidence-based edge detection and image segmentation to assess the current status of the canal and identify ancillary buildings. The study highlights UAVs' advantages—low cost, flexible operation, and high spatial resolution—as a practical alternative to manual inspections, which are resource-intensive in such terrains.

LIN, J., ZHOU, X., DENG, S., DU, X., WANG, M., & LI, X. (2019). Inspecting Unattended Irrigation Canals of Dujiangyan in Mountainous Area with UAV Remote Sensing Technology. 2019 8th International Conference on Agro-Geoinformatics (Agro-Geoinformatics), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/agro-geoinformatics.2019.8820220