RT journal article
T1 UAV-borne LiDAR revolutionizing groundwater level mapping
A1 García López, Santiago
A1 Vélez Nicolás, Mercedes
A1 Zarandona Palacio, Pedro
A1 Curcio, Andrea Celeste
A1 Ruiz Ortiz, Verónica
A1 Barbero González, Luis Carlos
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
A2 Ingeniería Industrial e Ingeniería Civil
K1 Groundwater
K1 Hydrogeology
K1 Piezometric level
K1 UAV-LiDAR
K1 Drone applications
K1 Vertical accuracy
AB In hydrogeological research, the systematic and periodic measurement of the piezometric level is fundamental to assess aquifer storage, identify recharge and discharge areas, define flow directions and to infer the balance betweeninputs and withdrawals. Furthermore, knowledge of this variable and its fluctuations is essential for the efficient management and protection of groundwater resources. In this work, a novel methodology is proposed for the remote acquisition of piezometric information from traditional large-diameter wells, using drone-borne LiDAR observations. The workflow developed consists of different stages, from flight planning and parameter setting, to point cloud generation, data processing and validation and its statistical treatment to extract piezometric information. This methodologyhas been applied in a small coastal aquifer with numerous wells that have served as monitoring points. The UAV-LiDAR has enabled the straightforward obtention of measurements of the piezometric level with very high vertical accuracies (RMSE of 5 cm) with minimum and maximumresiduals of−8.7 and 7.9 cm respectively. Likewise, the method has shown vertical accuracies 3 times better than those inferred from the official DTM of best resolution available in Spain, which is usually used in hydrogeological works. Since the technique provides absolute values of the piezometric level, it eliminates the need for laborious levelling work prior to hydrogeological campaigns. This method has proved to be an effective alternative/complementary technique to traditional measurements of the piezometric level, allowing to monitor extensive or inaccessible areas over short periods of time and to potentially reduce gaps in hydrogeological databases.
SN 0048-9697
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34762
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34762
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 06-nov-2026