Integrating Topographic and Underwater Measurements for Comprehensive Coastal Area Inspection: An Interdisciplinary Approach

This paper introduces an innovative methodology for coastal area inspection by integrating topographic and underwater measurements. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this work involves various fields such as geomatics, robotics, and ecology to enhance the understanding of coastal environments. The primary goal is to merge underwater and emerged environments into a seamless unified 3D model. To achieve this, the integrated use of UAV (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle) equipped with aerial optical sensors for photogrammetry, and USV(Uncrewed Surface Vehicle) designed to operate in extremely shallow waters equipped with underwater acoustic sensors (MBES, MultiBeam Echo Sounder), underwater cameras, and topographic LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), is proposed. The proposed approach can help in developing a comprehensive model that accurately represents both emerged and submerged environments, providing georeferenced data on marine habitats.