Systems and methods to determine depth of soil coverage along a right-of-way

A system for determining depth of soil coverage for a pipeline along a pipeline right-of-way, the system comprising:

• a survey and image capture circuitry configured to:
• receive at an initial selected time (a) a right-of-way walking survey and (b) baseline captured images of the pipeline right-of-way, and
• receive subsequent images at one or more subsequent selected times of the pipeline right-of-way;
• a baseline modeling circuitry configured to:
• determine a baseline depth of soil coverage model for the pipeline along a pipeline right-of-way based on (a) the right-of-way walking survey and (b) the baseline captured images of the pipeline right-of-way;
• and
• a depth of coverage modeling circuitry configured to:
• in response to reception of subsequent images:
• determine an updated surface level of the pipeline right-of-way,
• update the baseline depth of soil coverage model based on the updated surface level to generate a subsequent depth of soil coverage model, and
• update the subsequent depth of soil coverage model, the baseline depth of soil coverage model and the subsequent depth of soil coverage model each including a three dimensional elevation model indicating a distance from a top of the pipeline along the pipeline right-of-way to a surface level.

A system for determining depth of soil coverage for a pipeline along a pipeline right-of-way, the system comprising:

• one or more controllers including survey and image capture circuitry, baseline modeling circuitry, and depth of coverage modeling circuitry,
• the survey and image capture circuitry configured to:
• receive at an initial selected time (a) a right-of-way walking survey and (b) baseline captured images of the pipeline right-of-way, and
• receive subsequent images at one or more subsequent selected times of the pipeline right-of-way,
• the baseline modeling circuitry configured to:
• determine a baseline depth of soil coverage model for the pipeline along a pipeline right-of-way based on (a) the right-of-way walking survey and (b) the baseline captured images of the pipeline right-of-way, and
• the depth of coverage modeling circuitry configured to:
• in response to reception of subsequent images:
• determine an updated surface level of the pipeline right-of-way, and
• update the baseline depth of soil coverage model based on the updated surface level to generate a subsequent depth of soil coverage model, the baseline depth of soil coverage model and the subsequent depth of soil coverage model each including a three dimensional elevation model indicating a distance from a top of the pipeline along the pipeline right-of-way to a surface level.