Digital Image Processing for UAV-Based Landslide Investigations

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has increasingly become more common and practical in digital image processing for land mapping, including landslide investigation. Our work aims to analyze the displacement of the ground by digital image processing. The study area was the landslide site in Semarang State University Campus, Jalan Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, Indonesia. We undertook this study by comparing the area’s elevation to investigate whether or not the area is prone to landslides using UAV. Flights took place in five different periods from September 2019–January 2020. Of five periods, two images representing the study area in September–October 2019 were investigated using DroneDeploy and calibrated using MyElevation. Digital terrain model (DTM) was obtained at the end of the investigation. The displacement result is ± 1 m. Although the displacement is relatively small, an area with a 1-m displacement is still considered susceptible to translational rockslide with the basal clay material. DroneDeploy can provide effective time in processing digital image data. In conclusion, this study shows that UAVs are essential tools in landslide investigation, and the displacement can be monitored, allowing early decisions and precautions to be made to prevent more tragic disasters.