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GROUND-BASED SURVEYING VERSUS THE NEED FOR A SHIFT TO UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES
(UAVS): CURRENT CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTION

ABEL TADESSE (PHD) (1), SEID SHIMELES (2) & ERMIAS ALEMU (3)

(1)
Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works Corporation (ECDSWC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
e-mail abwoldemi@gmail.com
(2)
Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works Corporation (ECDSWC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
e-mail seid_sh@gmail.com
(3)
Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works Corporation (ECDSWC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
e-mail ermialem@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper aims at presenting a case study of the topographic and bathymetric surveying for a flood relief project
conducted within the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia, by the Ethiopian Construction Design and Supervision Works
Corporation (ECDSWC) . ECDSWC is one of the pioneer firms in Ethiopia that has extensive experience in study, design
1

and supervision works on the core areas of water, energy, transport, building and urban development. The subject River
Basin, Awash, is characterized by being extensively developed, and at the same time, being prone to recurring flooding.
More significantly, the middle and lower segments of the basin usually get washed up by high magnitude floods due to an
ever increasing human-induced pressure on the river course and climate change. The conducted topographic and
bathymetric surveying in the study all implemented the commonly practised conventional (traditional) surveying techniques
through total stations, static GPS equipment and so on. The underlying objective of the paper, hence, is to showcase how
a modern high-tech approach (such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; UAVs) could be a major direction forward to benefit
and expedite the surveying procedure. This is especially true on topographically inaccessible and flood prone regions
where it is practically challenging to traverse on foot or by vehicle carrying surveying equipment.

Keywords: UAV, surveying, GPS, total station

1. INTRODUCTION
The Awash River basin is the most intensively developed River Basin in Ethiopia. The highest economic value and assets
of the country are predominantly located in this Basin. These assets can range from the major Ethiopian cities like Addis
Ababa, Dire Dawa and Adama to the majority of irrigation scheme and their industries located in the upper, middle and
lower parts of the basin. Similarly, the majority of irrigated agriculture and a large number of farmers and settlers are
located in the flood prone areas of the middle and lower parts of the basin.

Life and assets in the middle and lower Awash Basin are subjected to imminent threats due to frequent flooding episodes
in the area which is getting worse year after year. The reason for this is an increase in pressure on the river course,
change in river morphology and regional climate change. For instance, recent flood records of 2014 and 2015 showed
major bank overtopping, and dyke breaching in the area that results in loss of life and property damage.

One anticipated approach to alleviate the flooding threats in the region was to transform the existing lakes within the basin
as detention reservoirs for the river flow during times of flooding so that flood impacts are significantly reduced. Hence, it is
of paramount importance to examine the existing storage status of the lakes and provide topographic input data for further
planning works. The topographic and bathymetric surveys are instrumental in providing the real topographic and reservoir
conditions so that subsequent hydrological water balance can be carried out. Furthermore, ground and cross-section
surveying inputs are essential for any recommended flood protection structures. Based on the analysis findings, further
flood protection and control options can be worked out to study possible structural solutions to the recurrent flood in the
flood prone areas.

A major challenge faced by the professionals during the surveying phases of the project was the issue of site accessibility.
Most of the middle and lower basin regions under study were topographically challenging and time consuming to access.
Moreover, the lake areas for flood detention are not manageable for routine surveying practices. These kinds of situations
were also commonplace in previous surveying works as well. Keeping in mind that an overwhelming number of surveying
works are done by the corporation each year, sticking to the more traditional surveying techniques have turned out to be
challenging with time and no longer a viable option. As a result, the corporation now believes that there should be a

1
The paper and the pictures within are regenerated from draft study report of the same basin namely: “Middle and Lower Awash Flood
Protection and Control Project: Topographic and Bathymetric Survey Report” by ECDSWC.

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.

1-3 March 2017, Madrid, Spain

paradigm shift from ground-based observations to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV or Drone) technologies that enhance
higher spatial resolution and temporal coverage of data acquisition. The corporation’s requirement from the UAV system is
not limited to capturing topographic data but also traverses to multispectral remotely sensed images to capture land
use/cover, urban and cadastral data, the bathymetry of reservoirs and rivers, images to extract geological and
hydrogeological investigations and much more.

This paper is organized with the overall objective of showcasing how the commonly followed trends in the surveying works
are done, identify the gaps in the current trend, and suggest a more robust approach that minimizes both time and
resources. The paper is organized as follows: section 2 describes the objectives of the case study, section 3 describes the
case study area and the surveying methods used, section 4 outlines the major outputs from the surveying work, section 5
points out the challenges in the adopted surveying practice and indicates planned future directions, and finally section 6
draws conclusions of the paper.

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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2. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
As part of the general project, the major objective of the surveying work was to undertake a survey of river cross-
section along the Awash River, and ground and bathymetric work for the estimated 11,914ha of land and water bodies
of the retention lake (i.e. Gedebassa Lake; Figure 2) and its surrounding.
The specific objectives were:
 A detailed bathymetric survey with average cross-section at specified locations on Gedebassa lake reservoir,
 Preparation of recent area-capacity-elevation data of the lake,
 Conduct a topographic survey over the adjacent lake areas that are inaccessible by boat,
 Conduct a cross-sectional survey on Awash River, tributary rivers and channels splitting from the main river,
 Collect all the necessary data on the existing physical features within and nearby the lakes boundary,
 Prepare topographic maps in detailed forms and scales.
3. PROJECT AREA AND METHODS
3.1 Project Area
The overall project survey areas delimited for the river cross-section survey and its surrounding topographic survey
were all located along the Awash river in the middle and lower portions of the basin (Figure 1). The total surveying area
stretched over 146,959ha for the middle Awash and 12,764 ha for the lower Awash. The distance from Gedebassa lake
to the nearest town is 20km, and the area covered by the lake is 7,791ha. Geographically, the middle Awash survey
area is found from UTM 1007160 to 1108026 N up to UTM 620000 to 680000 E and lower Awash survey area from
UTM 1273160 to 1298160 N up to UTM 712370 to 787370 E. There is no access in the Awash river corridor and it was
only possible to travel on foot.

Figure 1. Location of surveyed area in middle and lower Awash River Basin

The adjacent peripheral lands were also surveyed to relate the lakes bed topography with the surrounding condition
and generate the whole topographic data. The bathymetric survey area includes the areas within the lake boundary
limit as defined on the boundary map shown in Figure 2.

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.

1-3 March 2017, Madrid, Spain

Figure 2. Surveying area and existing lakes targeted for the surveying work

3.2 Methods
The surveying procedure is performed through three successive phases: 1) desk study, 2) field data collection, and 3)
data processing and map preparation. Prior to the phases, a reconnaissance field visit is usually warranted to
examine the site conditions to make sure specific methodologies are adopted to match the existing situations on the
site.
During the desk study phase, previous studies that have relevance to the intended work at hand are thoroughly
reviewed. The field visit usually comes along the desk study so that inventory of available infrastructure and utilities in
the site are properly recorded. Eventually, this phase lays the foundation for a comprehensive plan preparation for the
subsequent field data collection.
The filed data collection phase involves conducting a cross-sectional surveying on Awash River and a bathymetric
surveying over the detention lake, Lake Gedabessa, in order to generate basic data input for the planned flood
protection and control works. The topographic survey is usually done by a more traditional approach through total
stations (Leica C 11) and ground control points established using fixed GPS. For the bathymetric survey, the lake bed
levels are captured using a sonar-based depth finder GPS unit with 3D recording/mapping capability (Figure 3).

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.

1-3 March 2017, Madrid, Spain

Figure 3. Topographic and bathymetric survey arrangements: a) Leica total station TC11 for river cross-section data collection, b)
dual-beam transducer (echo sounder) connected to the wooden pole, c) screen readout interface

In the data processing and map preparation phase, all collected data are transferred to computer hardware and
arranged to produce an AutoCAD-ready coordinate file. The coordinate files contain point number, point code, X-Y-Z
coordinate values and a point descriptor.
4. SURVEYING WORK OUTPUTS
4.1 Ground Surveying Work
The general topographic map was prepared at a scale of 1:100 showing ground features such as canals, drainage
line,
rivers, water points, pumps, settlements, footpath, and seasonal flood areas. It covers water bodies, wetlands,
bushes, forest and bare ground on the entire project domain (Figure 4). Specific major irrigation and drainage
structure sites on the main Awash River are mapped to enable typical layout preparation during preliminary and
detailed design stages.
The topographic survey and map produced and map have also covered the floodplain area which was inundated
during the seasonal flooding of Gedebassa Lake. A total of 4107.2 ha of land were surveyed using a total station and
included
in the lake survey data. Furthermore, the produced map indicated the configuration of the terrain and location of both
natural and human made objects.

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.

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GEDEBASSA
LAKE

Figure 4. Sample of the conducted surveying work on the Middle Awash area of Gewane and Gelealo (reduced for presentation)

4.2 Bathymetric surveying Work

Lake Gedebassa bathymetric survey has been performed in a simplified field data collection method. The survey
adapted a Garmin GPSmap 421s sounder/depth finder system to a plank of wood fixed on the boat horizontally and
connected to a wooden pole by means of hole and pin, and then the echo sounder was attached to the pole by means
of bolt and nut (Figure 3b & c). The echo-sounder has a computer interface for data downloading to a computer and
possesses a dual frequency with operating frequency of 50 kHz and 200 kHz.
The summary of the bathymetric surveying work conducted on the lake area (i.e. Gedebassa Lake) is presented in
Table 1:

Table 1. Lake Gedebassa bathymetric surveying work summary

NO. SURVEYS CONDUCTED PERFORMED COVERAGE

1 Area coverage(ha) 6956

2 Total cross-section length (km) 579.3
3 Peripheral length (km) 42.24
4 Number of cross-sections 111
5 Cross-sectional width (m) 120
6 Number of surveyed works 21568

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4.3 Data processing and map preparation

Topo maps with a scale of 1:5,000 have been found to be very compact in which the contour lines becomes dense and
cannot be clearly seen. As a result, in order to satisfy the design requirement, the scale of 1:160 for middle Awash and
1:100 for lower Awash with 1.0m contour interval, showing all surface features with spot elevations, have been prepared in
appropriate paper size with the detail general layout. A segment of the produced map is shown in Figure 4. The followings
are summarized to be the survey result:
 All BMs Layout map,
 All detail data of the topographic survey for the river surrounding,
 River cross-section data and profiles as required,
 All site topographic maps and profile with appropriate scale and paper sizes.
5. CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED AND FUTURE DIRECTION
5.1 Challenges encountered on the current surveying work

The existing ground features were not conducive to proceed with ground surveying procedures. The topographic
surveying along the Awash River was conducted under densely populated vegetation, namely Prosopis. Clearing work to
access the river was, therefore, very cumbersome and took much of the time during the field work. The surveyors were
also required to walk more than 3kms to reach the river which adds to time lost without actual surveying work (Figure 5a).

Regarding the bathymetric surveying, the Gedebassa Lake is located about 13km from the nearby town. However, road
access was bad and it took on an average of 3 hours to and from the town to arrive at the lake site. Another hindering
issue faced during the survey was the rainy weather condition that coincides with the work. As a result of heavy wind and
rain, the lake was unstable and agitated generating a series of waves that threaten to capsize the boat and even if tried,
led to erroneous data collection (Figure 5b). All these problems combined resulted in a very prolonged completion time
and a waste of resources that might have been used for other projects.

Figure 5. a) Existing vegetation all along the Awash River, b) agitated wave on the lake on a particularly windy day

5.2 Future direction

To date, the demand for geospatial products on project sites has been met by locally-based, conventional methods such
as total stations and hand-held GPS on a ‘one point at a time’ basis. However, in the ever increasing demand for on-time
surveying work, the future sees a shift to a more robust technique of acquiring surveying data. The focus to this paradigm
shift in the Corporation is triggered by the need for data acquisition simplicity, data acquisition time, and operation cost.

Regarding the simplicity; according to Volkmann (2017), the feasibility of conventional surveying strongly relies on the
powerful ability of an experienced expert who, from the perspective of eye-level altitude can optimize the number of points
measured in the field to construct vector data – i.e. points, lines and polygons - to adequately reflect the physical situation
in the field. In raster mapping (or UAV techniques), on the other hand, the data collection is spatially continuous and
homogeneous and thus does not require discipline-specific skills in the field. As long as an appropriate sensor acquires
data at an appropriate resolution, all dynamic analyses can be performed off-site and by various stakeholders who do not
necessarily have to visit the terrain of interest in person (Cai, et al 2014).

Regarding data acquisition time, Fitzpatrick (2016) did a comprehensive study regarding the time it took for UAVs to
complete a pilot study area against the traditional methods. He showed that on an average the UAV method took 46% less
time to complete the same volume of work as compared to the conventional methods. Detail results are shown in Figure 6.

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 HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.
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HydroSenSoft, International Symposium and Exhibition on Hydro-Environment Sensors and Software.

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Topographic Mapping (by manual

aircraft photogrammetry)

Topographic Mapping (by Cross

Sectional Method)

Volumetric Calculation

0 5 10 15 20
Time (Hrs)

UAV time (hrs) conventional method time (hrs)

Figure 6. Comparison of time spent on the conventional versus UAV surveying work on a pilot study (courtesy: Fitzpatrick, 2015)

Fitzpatrick (2016) further demonstrated that using the UAV technology require less operational cost than any of the
conventional methods. Nearly 51% of operational cost reduction is observed by deploying UAVs than using the
conventional methods where a lot of money is incurred during mobilization, professionals’ payments, the time it took
to finish the task and other unforeseen incurred costs. Figure 7 shows the details.

Topographic Mapping (by manual

aircraft photogrammetry)

Topographic Mapping (by Cross

Sectional Method)

Volumetric Calculation

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

Cost ($)

UAV operational cost ($) conventional method operational cost ($)

Figure 7. Comparison of the cost incurred for the conventional versus UAV surveying work on a pilot study (courtesy: Fitzpatrick, 2015)

Regarding accuracy as well, most UAV systems operate within an acceptable range of ground measurement
discrepancy. According to Youmei and Boganag (2014), the UAV-borne LIDAR technology system can generate with
a plane accuracy of about ±0.314m and elevation accuracy of about ±0.26m which is a tolerable error in most large-
scale topographic maps.
It should also be noted that UAV technology is not meant to completely replace conventional surveying methods but
provides an additional resource complementing conventional instruments in the surveyor’s equipment inventory. For
optimal results, all techniques such as UAV, total stations and GPS systems should be used in tandem. As one
example, UAVs are not able to assist in bathymetric surveying works since the inbuilt LiDAR system cannot penetrate
a water body. On occasions like that, it is usually recommended to use the combination of UAVs and single or multiple
beam echo sounders for better output.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The topographic survey is conducted over the Awash River and 130m corridor on both sides to provide sufficient
topographic data for implementation of the flood protection and control project. The surveying work has covered as much
as possible the whole area bounded by the river corridor and the total length of the river stretch covered in this survey has
come to be 156.20km in the middle Awash valley and 106km for the lower Awash valley. A total of 111 cross-sections and
102 cross-sections have been taken across Awash River for middle and lower Awash valleys respectively.

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The bathymetric survey has been conducted over 6,956ha of the lake surface and covered a peripheral length of 42.24km.
The survey profile was taken for a total number of 111 and a cross-sectional length of 579.3km. The total number of
surveyed points for the Gedabessa Lake is 21,568.

All the surveying activities were undertaken by using conventional (more traditional) techniques of surveying. It is argued
that shifting to UAVs on top of the already existing techniques would prove beneficial both in reducing operational costs as
well as completion time. The case study, by no means, undermined the shortcoming that comes along with UAVs such
regulatory limitations and requirement of well-equipped operational staffs. Over time the, though, the limitations are
believed to be overcome and the benefits obtained from using this new technology will transfer the Corporations
operational capacity to a new dimension.

REFERENCES
Cai G., Dias J., and Seneviratne L. (2014). A survey of small-scale Unmanned Areial Vehicles: recent advances and
furure development trends. Unmanned Systems, Vol. 2, No. 2 1-26.

Fitzpatrick BP. (2016). Unmanned aerial systems for surveying and mapping: cost comparison of UAS versus traditional
methods of data acquisition. MSc thesis on geographic information science and technology, University of Southern
California, 36-52.

Volkmann W. (2017). Small unmanned aerial system mapping versus conventional methods: case studies on farmland
surveying. CTA working paper, 17 (07), 14-38.

Youmei H., Bogang Y. (2014). A fast approach to generate large-scale topographic maps based on new Chinese vehicle-
borne LIDAR system. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. SCI. 17 012150.

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