Monitoring of a laboratory-scale inland-delta formation using a structured-light system

Abstract

A reduced complexity model, which simulates the process of fluvial inland-delta formation, has been developed in a previous study. The results have been compared and validated with a laboratory experiment. This work elaborates the laboratory investigation in which an experimental inland delta is generated and its eroding topography is measured using a structured-light 3D scanner. The least squares 3D (LS3D) co-registration and comparison method is used for alignment as well as for comparing data epochs both spatially and temporally. A spatial precision value of around ±50 μm (1/20 000) is achieved. A series of high-quality digital elevation models (DEMs) are generated and the space-time evolution of the inland delta is monitored and analysed, in terms of slope and topography dynamics, in the consecutive DEM layers. The combination of high-resolution scanning together with high-precision co-registration techniques allows investigation of the details of the space-time variability of the sedimentation-deposition patterns to be used for geomorphological analysis.