Airborne Data Laboratory

To process the very large volumes of data generated by our airborne operations we run a suite of purpose built workstations with appropriate software licences.

Dedicated workstations and software are provided for handling the very large datasets produced by airborne platforms – in particular for image processing using structure-from-motion photogrammetric techniques, multi- and hyper-spectral image processing, and LiDAR point cloud analysis. While our resources are optimised for the efficient processing of these large airborne datasets, they are also available for other tasks requiring high-end desktop processing power.

Our Workstations

We currently have nine workstations on strength.

Memory capacity is generally the limiting factor in the size of task that can processed; our workstations range in memory capacity from 64Gb to 256Gb.

**Workstation Specifications:**
Workstation	Format / Type	CPU	GPU	Memory
SAMSON	Desktop Custom Build	I7-4930K 6-core (12 with hyper-threading)	2 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	64 Gb
ATHENA	Desktop Custom Build	I7-7820X 8-core (16 with hyper-threading)	2 x NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti 11 Gb	128 Gb
EOS	Desktop Custom Build	I7-7820X 8-core (16 with hyper-threading)	2 x NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti 11 Gb	128 Gb
GOLIATH	Desktop Custom Build	2 x Intel Xeon E5-2640V4 / 2.4 GHz processor, 20 cores, 40 threads	2 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	256 Gb
PANDORA	Desktop	TBC	1 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	32 Gb
PEGASUS	Laptop HP Z-Fury G9	Intel® Core™ i9-12950HX (up to 5.0 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 30 MB L3 cache, 16 cores, 24 threads)	NVIDIA RTX™ A3000 Laptop GPU (12 GB GDDR6 dedicated)	128 GB
ALTHEA	Desktop HP Elite 800 G9	Intel® Core™ i7-12700 (up to 4.9 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 25 MB L3 cache, 12 cores, 20 threads)	1 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	192 Gb
ARETE	Desktop HP Elite 800 G9	Intel® Core™ i7-12700 (up to 4.9 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 25 MB L3 cache, 12 cores, 20 threads)	1 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	192 Gb
ASTERIA	Desktop HP Elite 800 G9	Intel® Core™ i7-12700 (up to 4.9 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 25 MB L3 cache, 12 cores, 20 threads)	1 x NVIDIA Titan X 12 Gb	192 Gb

Software

The following software packages are or will be installed as standard; please note that some variations may exist between workstations depending on license availability. Additional software may be accessed on request.

**Standard Installations:**
Software	Usage and availability.
Agisoft Metashape	Professional payware photogrammetry (Structure from Motion) software; limited number of educational licenses available.
Pix4D Mapper	Professional payware photogrammetry (Structure from Motion) software; 25-seat educational license and one standalone educational license (2 devices) available. Commercial licensing available on monthly rate as required.
QGIS	Open source GIS software, installed on all workstations.
ArcGIS	Professional payware GIS software available through UoE licensing.
R and R Studio	Open source data analysis software.
Python (Anaconda)	Open source data analysis software.
Meshlab	Open source software for mesh manipulation and analysis
CloudCompare	Open source point cloud manipulation and analysis
LASTools	Open source point cloud manipulation and analysis
ESA Snap	Freeware for accessing ESA EO satellite data (e.g. Sentinel-2)
Blender	Open source Image and mesh editing software
ENVI	Professional image processing software available through UoE licensing.
OxTS NavTools	GNSS processing software for OxTS GNSS/IMU devices, distributable.
Emlid Studio	Freeware GNSS processing software, primarily for processing Emlid GNSS devices but also compatible with third-party GNSS.
GIMP	Open source Image manipulation and editing software
Shotcut	Video editing software.

**Specialist Installations:**
Software	Usage and availability.
DJI Terra	DJI data processing software supporting proprietary LiDAR processing steps, photogrammetry, and multi-spectral image processing of data from DJI platforms. 2 perpetual licences available, currently on EOS and ATHENA. One will be transferred to the mobile workstation PEGASUS as soon as this is on strength to allow in-field processing.
DaVinci Resolve	Professional video editing software, to be installed on EOS and PEGASUS.

Using the Airborne Data Laboratory

The Airborne Data Laboratory (ADL) is available to UoE researchers and students for use with datasets generated either through ARI, or collected independently.

Access to the ADL resources are managed according to the procedures laid out in the ADL Operations Manual which is maintained on our internal Sharepoint site.

View the ADL Operations Manual (links to our internal Sharepoint site)

This article was published on 2024-06-25