Vegetation Management
Case StudiesVegetation Detection via Aerial Powerline Surveys
Gridvision’s powerline surveying services provide in-depth, accurate data that can be used to develop a vegetation management plan.
This case study highlights the use of LiDAR data obtained through a Gridvision aerial powerline inspection to develop a proactive vegetation management plan at a major Queensland coal mine.
Gridvision were engaged to conduct a fixed wing LiDAR survey and subsequent powerline network modelling, which includes vegetation intrusion detection.
Key Benefits:
Ease of data acquisition
With aerial inspections, data acquisition time is reduced to days instead of weeks. Safety risks around inspection personnel driving around remote areas of the mine site are essentially eliminated.
Accurate, non-subjective data
Site-wide capture
SERVICES PROVIDED
Aerial Surveying
Aerial Powerline Survey
Gridvision’s aerial LiDAR powerline surveys make use of radar technology to detect the precise locations of objects in 3 dimensional space, leading to capture of:
• Vegetation such as trees and bushes
• Powerline assets – cables and poles
• Ground terrain
• Building structures
Data aquisition was by fixed wing aircraft flying at altitudes of around 500 meters. At this height, there is no interruption or bearing on mine site activities at all.
The captured data was then processed by algorithms and developed into a 3D model.
Deliverables and Data Obtained
Outputs from this powerline inspection survey included a true-to-life 3D interactive model of the mine site’s terrain, powerline network, and associated vegetation intrusion data.
Vegetation intrusion data is defined as any information about vegetation that is approaching powerline assets, for example the distance to conductors and volume of the vegetation.
Powerfully, this data is also available in spreadsheet format, allowing intrusions to be sorted and filtered to quickly organise them according to risk and priority.
APPLICATION
Using the Data
Intrusions were filtered by proximity to conductors and prioritised in accordance to distance to powerlines and critical nature of feeders.
As this was a large mine site with over 100 linear km of overhead network, intrusions were organised into manageable groupings by physical location for scheduling. Work packs showing the exact locations of vegetation intrusions were developed to be handed to vegetation clearing workers.
