An approach for the automated extraction of road surface distress from a UAV-derived point cloud

The condition of the road surface should be inspected to increase the service life of the road and to ensure safety and comfort. This study aims to automatically detect and measure road distress from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based images. The proposed methodology consists of three steps. First, images acquired from the UAV are used to generate the three-dimensional point cloud. Then, the road surface is extracted from the 3D point cloud. Finally, the developed algorithm is used to automatically detect and measure road distress. The accuracy assessment is conducted by comparing the analyses from point cloud data and measurements obtained from the traditional inspection method. The root mean square error values range from 2.09–6.72 cm. Finally, the outcomes of the proposed methodology are compared with those of commercial GIS software. Both produce statistically similar results for detecting road surface distress.