Planet4Stereo: A photogrammetric open source pipeline for generating digital elevation models for glacier change detection using low-cost PlanetScope satellite data

This repository contains the processed digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from PlanetScope data, as well as the validation results of these models, associated with the paper "Planet4Stereo: A Photogrammetric Open-Source Pipeline for Generating Digital Elevation Models for Glacier Change Detection Using Low-Cost PlanetScope Satellite Data."

Repository Structure

• launch_planet4stereo.json: A parameter file that can be used in Visual Studio Code to execute a Python script with predefined arguments. Users only need to update the file paths to the relevant datasets in order to reproduce the results presented in the paper. Since the same parameter settings were applied to the processing of DEMs for both the Shisper Glacier and the southern Smørstabb Massif (Bøverbrean Glacier), only a single template is provided.

• [shi_2017_overlap_10_converg_4.0_map, shi_2019_overlap_10_converg_4.0_map, bov_2021_overlap_10_converg_4.0_map].zip:
  Archives containing the processed DEMs derived from PlanetScope data. Each archive is structured as follows:

  • demcoreg_eval/: Directory containing the coregistration and validation results:

    • eval_area/:
      • aoi: Directory containing the shapefile defining the area of interest (AOI), representing the actual processed extent of the terrain model.
      • compare_mask: Directory containing the shapefile delineating the masked area used for the difference of DEMs (DoD) calculation, which serves to evaluate the PlanetScope DEM against a validation DEM.
    • results/: Results of the DoD analysis, including the prior co-registration of the PlanetScope DEM with the validation DEM using demcoreg (Shean et al., 2016).

  • planet4stereo_bba_logs/: Anonymized log files from the Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP) used within Planet4Stereo for RPC bias correction via bundle-block adjustment.

  • planet4stereo_out/: Processed DEMs, hillshade visualizations, orthophotos, and an error map indicating the reliability of triangulation for each raster cell in the final DEM.

  • pss_outlines_shp/: Due to licensing restrictions, the commercial PlanetScope scenes used to generate the DEMs cannot be shared. However, this directory contains shapefiles outlining the footprints of the respective scenes, named according to their unique identifiers, allowing users to assess the acquisition geometry without access to the original imagery.

• change_detection.zip: Directory containing the change detection results:
  • cd_shisper_PSS2017_PSS2019/:
    • compare_mask: Directory containing the shapefile delineating the masked area used for the difference of DEMs (DoD) calculation in the scope of change detection.
    • profile: Directory containing the shapefile that provides a polyline close to the glacier center line to further investigate changes as profile measurement
  • cd_boverbrean_NDH2013_PSS2021/:
    • compare_mask: Directory containing the shapefile delineating the masked area used for the difference of DEMs (DoD) calculation in the scope of change detection.

The Python scripts used for running validation and change detection are provided in github:

• https://github.com/mel-ias/pss_dem_validation
• https://github.com/mel-ias/pss_change_detection