UAV-based hyperspectral imaging of iron(III) on steel infrastructure

The inspection of infrastructure, such as bridges or floodgates, requires a significant human workload. The authors propose a general workflow for Unmanned Aerial System-based inspection of steel infrastructure using a hyperspectral camera to detect the spectral signature of iron(III) in rust, reducing the human workload by assigning visual inspection tasks to a UAS. A general scheme for corrosion damage derived from templates of different infrastructure operators and an algorithm for iron(III) detection are presented. Furthermore, the paper presents an exemplary approach for UAS path planning and validates the concepts on point cloud data of the Travehafenbrücke in Hamburg, Germany.