Underwater Deadwood and Vegetation from UAV-borne Topobathymetric Lidar

The monitoring of submerged deadwood and vegetation is gaining increased attention due to their socioeconomic and ecological importance. Deadwood acts as an important underwater habitat but also poses a threat to bridges, hydroelectric power plants and riverside buildings. Underwater vegetation, in turn, is a proxy for climate change in general and global warming in particular. In this context, UAV-borne topobathymetric laser scanning constitutes a promising tool for accurately capturing and modelling these small-scale objects in high spatial resolution.