Atamanenko Y. Geo-informational technology for recording and mapping road traffic accidents using unmanned aerial vehicles

The thesis presents a theoretical generalization and a new solution to the scientific and applied problem of developing geo-informational technology for recording and mapping road traffic accidents using unmanned aerial vehicles. The analysis of survey revealed a number of problems regarding the present state of the road accidents' recording process. The author proposes the development of geo-informational technology involving unmanned aerial vehicles, that technology being aimed at improving the process of recording and mapping road traffic accidents under the present-day conditions. In order to determine the accuracy characteristics of arranging aerial imagery, tacheometric survey, GNSS-filming, aerial photography and measurements using steel measuring tape were performed on a test site. Based on the results of accuracy assessment, it was established that the length of the lines on the aerial imagery had been measured with a relative error of less than 1:2000, so the use of unmanned aerial vehicles is justified for filming small-in-length patches and linear objects, including those for mapping road traffic accidents. The requirements and the content of the stages of the flowchart for recording and mapping road traffic accidents using unmanned aerial vehicles have been developed. Based on the current classification of highways, the choice of flight altitude for an unmanned aerial vehicle has been theoretically substantiated, and the function of that altitude of the accident scene area and the width of the roadway has been determined. The main limitations for the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle have been investigated and identified, and the assessment of the economic efficiency of the application of the technology developed – using an unmanned aerial vehicle for recording in conjunction with a ground laser scanner and an electronic tacheometer – has been performed. Based on the scope of the study, the geo-informational technology for recording and mapping road traffic accidents using unmanned aerial vehicles has been developed that includes components of software and informational support. It has been determined that the geo-informational technology for recording and mapping road traffic accidents that will be used by patrol police, is intended for recording, analyzing and storing road accident-related information. A database of the web portal for recording and mapping road traffic accidents, which stores information on registered accidents, has been created. The basic principles of designing the database developed have been identified: at the conceptual level, the research area has been substantiated, the entities and attributes thereof have been described; at the logical level, the conceptual data model has been implemented in the database management system of the web portal; at the physical level, the actual computer implementation of the database has been presented. A step-by-step flowchart for recording and mapping road traffic accidents using unmanned aerial vehicles has been proposed that is intended to collect the accident scene information, to process the latter on a special web portal and to shape the data obtained in the form of a protocol that includes general information on the accident and the processed cartographic material.