Integration of UAV Photogrammetry and GIS for Digital Elevation Modeling in Urban Land Use Planning

Abstract

This paper presents a methodological framework for integrating UAV-based photogrammetry and GIS technologies to generate a high-accuracy digital elevation model (DEM) for urban land-use planning. The study was conducted in an urbanized area characterized by heterogeneous topography, mixed vegetation cover, and fragmented land use, which complicate high-resolution terrain modeling. UAV surveys were performed using multiple photogrammetric blocks with centimeter-level ground sample distance and a dense ground control network supported by geoid-based height corrections. The resulting DEM was independently validated using control points derived from large-scale topographic data. The achieved vertical accuracy (RMSE ≈ 0.25 m) confirms the applicability of UAV-derived DEMs for large-scale mapping (1:1000–1:2000) and urban spatial analysis. Unlike studies focused on runoff simulation, this work emphasizes the accuracy-controlled generation and validation of DEMs as a primary spatial dataset for urban planning applications. The results demonstrate that DEM accuracy depends strongly on flight planning, ground control distribution, and hybrid automatic–manual point cloud refinement.