Visual Monitoring of Slope Maintenance using UAV at Bukit Setiawangsa

Abstract

Slope maintenance is one of the ways to control the occurrence of landslides. Visual monitoring is necessary to
monitor the construction works on the slopes to ensure works are done well and smoothly. The traditional methods
of direct on-the-ground observations between engineers and the objects for visual monitoring come with so many
bottlenecks. These include inefficient monitoring resulting from high or steep slopes, inaccurate readings or
observations, time consuming, hectic exercise etc. Enhanced observations are sought by the applications of various
monitoring techniques for the sensing and analysis of real-time data of slope movements with focus now shifting to
the utilization of unmanned area vehicles (UAV). This study examines the utilization of UAV-based imagery for
visual monitoring of a slope under maintenance. This study is carried out in Bukit Setiawangsa, Kuala Lumpur for
monitoring construction works and identification of possible defects on the slope under maintenance by recording
images using UAV. The processes involves planning and early preparation before the flight, recording the imagery
data using micro-UAV for flight with a height of 80 m to obtain the whole image of slope from the top view and flight
of 4 to 9 m distance from the surface of the slope for monitoring the construction works and identification of possible
defects on the slope. Pix4DMapper is used to obtain the whole image of slope from the top view meanwhile Global
Mapper is used to generate contour lines, watershed and path profile on the slope. This study is suitable for
detecting defects on a man-made slope due to the additional factor of the micro-UAV flight which is wide flying area.