Application of UAV orthophoto and thermal imaging for municipal solid waste landfills monitoring

Abstract. Monitoring municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills is essential for understanding surface dynamics, vegetation changes, and temperature anomalies that may indicate environmental risks. Traditional ground-based methods are often labor-intensive and spatially limited, making unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing an efficient alternative. This study employs UAV-based RGB and thermal infrared (TIR) imaging to assess landfill conditions in two Czech MSW sites. The first objective is to map the distribution of the invasive plant cotton thistle (Onopordum acanthium L.) using UAV RGB imagery data and a convolutional neural network classifier. The second objective is to analyse apparent temperature variations across landfill zones using repetitive UAV TIR imagery. Results demonstrate that UAV RGB imagery effectively detects vegetation patterns, while UAV TIR imaging identifies temperature anomalies that may be associated with landfill processes. Zones with mixed waste and soil remain the warmest over time, suggesting potential hotspots for gas emissions. UAV-based monitoring offers a multi-dimensional approach to landfill assessment with the early detection of environmental concerns. Future work should focus on mapping other landfill plant species, refining temperature corrections, and integrating additional ground-truthing for emissivity adjustments for precise thermal measurements.