5.4 Drone-based HD and IR Image Integration

Figure 56. Plot of Fused Damage Density Index

5.4 Drone-based HD and IR Image Integration As shown in Table 2, a drone based platform was deployed to collect data in the later stages of the BEAST experiment. The procedure for the configuration, data collection, and postprocessing of the HD, as well as the IR images, were thoroughly discussed in the previous sections. In this section, the damage indexes calculated based on the HD and IR images are plotted in Figure 57 and compared against the predicted performance of the representative bridge. A quick review of the results indicates the superiority of IR as compared to HD images for tracking the progression of damage in the surface and subsurface layers. In other words, once the damage is created in the surface of the concrete deck, no matter the depth and width, the HD image will only quantify the extent of the damaged area. In the case of IR images, however, the exact damaged area can be tracked as deterioration progresses. Therefore, it is more robust to employ the IR technique to quantify the surface and subsurface concrete damage.