Application of UAV to quantify the river morphology evolution and hazard characteristics in Jinlun Creek, Taitung

In recent years, an increase in frequency of extreme rainfall events in the mountains of Taiwan has led to a high intensity deposition or erosion of riverbed and rapid evolution of river morphology on the island. Therefore, this study combines the use of UAV equipped with high-resolution digital camera with Computer Vision Technology to quickly establish a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of Jinlun Creek, Taitung. The results of this DTM can be used to analyze the elevation change of riverbed since Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Furthermore, we have established profiles of cross sections of Jinlun Creek's downstream with the DTM data to obtain the relative erosion history, which can be used as a reference when analyzing the hazard characteristics and planning for future river management projects.