Experimental Verification of Volume Model for Dry Bulk Piles using a Single Image

Abstract

Estimation of volume of dry bulk piles in a specific port is very important for logistics management and overall efficiency of shipping operations. Recently, a closed-form expression has been proposed for estimating the volume from a single image. In this work, we present experimental laboratory verification of this model. Our experiments consist of constructing several different types of piles such as conical, elongated and flat-top, composed of sand and gravel mixture, which are then imaged using a nadir-looking camera, emulating the acquisition by an optical remote sensing satellite. Finally, we estimate their respective volumes and compare them with in situ measured volume. The volume estimation accuracy achieved is more than 89% for all kinds of piles.