Landscape architectural foot soldier operations

The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic fieldwork approach in order to describe the ground condition of dense urban riverine settlements. The proposed approach supplements aerial-view acquired digital elevation models that are unable to describe the ground conditions that are obstructed by urban and vegetative canopies. After three years spent developing this approach, we can compare and identify synergies between three ground-view acquisition methods: an action-, digital single lens reflex (DSLR)-camera, and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). This paper consists of a two-part study, which uses the visual quality and accuracy of the data sets produced as criterion for appraisal. Although norms would suggest a hypothetical best operational workflow as an outcome of this paper, we instead argue that the identification of circumstances in which different methods are combined to complement the limitations of another is more beneficial. As such, through the appraisal of visual quality and accuracy obtained by the approaches described above we can draw better insights to make the most out of typically laborious fieldwork. Given the labour-intensive process, an economy of work is necessitated in order to capture the best description of landscape elements with the given equipment and time, allowing the greatest area of coverage.