FLAGSHIP MULTISENSOR RIVER MAPPING
Danube & Sava River Mapping
Airborne LiDAR, vessel-based mobile mapping, UAV bridge survey and multibeam bathymetry across the Danube and Sava river corridors
Air, shore, structures and riverbed integrated into one continuous 0.5 m hybrid terrain foundation.
LocationDanube and Sava river corridors, Republic of Serbia
Direct clientConsortium led by Egis (France) and Deltares (Netherlands)
Project period2025–2026
MapSoft roleSubcontractor responsible for the complete geospatial data-acquisition, processing and integration component required as the spatial foundation for subsequent hydraulic and morphological modelling.
Project context
One continuous engineering reference had to span floodplain, riverbank, structures and submerged riverbed
Navigation, hydraulic and morphological analysis required consistent geometry across physical environments that no single survey technology could capture efficiently. MapSoft therefore coordinated complementary airborne, vessel, UAV and hydrographic acquisition and integrated the results into one spatial foundation.
MapSoft worked as a subcontractor to the consortium led by Egis and Deltares and was responsible for the geospatial data-acquisition, processing and integration component. Hydraulic and morphological modelling itself is not attributed to MapSoft.
Multisensor acquisition
Each physical environment was measured with the method best suited to it
Airborne LiDAR covered the wider terrain and floodplain; vessel-based mobile mapping captured riverbanks and infrastructure; multibeam bathymetry measured the submerged channel; UAV LiDAR and RGB documented bridge structures in detail.
Illustrative multisensor overview based on the project acquisition methods; authentic field material is shown below.
Field operations
Long linear corridors demanded repeatable airborne, vessel and UAV operations
Hydrographic and mobile-mapping work was executed from MapSoft survey vessels, with separate configurations supporting near-shore access and more demanding river conditions. Georeferenced spherical and side-view imagery complemented the LiDAR geometry, while UAV survey focused on bridges.
Processing & integration
The core technical challenge was not collection — it was making independent sensors agree at the land–water interface
Trajectories, imagery and point clouds were processed and classified independently, then checked for spatial consistency before integration. Particular attention was paid to the dry–wet interface and to removing artificial gaps or elevation steps between floodplain, bank, waterline and riverbed.
Select sensor/method by physical environment
Plan airborne, vessel and UAV missions
Acquire floodplain, bank, structure and riverbed data
Process trajectories, imagery and point clouds
Classify and quality-control each acquisition component
Integrate terrestrial and bathymetric elevations across the waterline
Produce the continuous Hybrid DTM and engineering datasets
Integrated products
From approximately 70 billion measured points to a continuous 0.5 m Hybrid DTM and engineering datasets
The final production chain combined classified point clouds, imagery, bathymetry and UAV bridge data into engineering-ready spatial products for downstream modelling, navigation analysis and river-corridor management.
Delivered outputs
A complete spatial foundation from classified point clouds to terrain, imagery and bridge profiles
Integrated classified point clouds
Airborne, mobile, bathymetric and UAV point-cloud datasets.
LAS / LAZHybrid Digital Terrain Model
Continuous terrain from floodplain through riverbank/waterline to riverbed.
0.5 × 0.5 m · Grid / terrain modelBridge cross profiles
Cross profiles for 29 bridges produced from detailed UAV LiDAR/RGB data.
DWG · 29 bridgesGeoreferenced riverbank imagery
Spherical and side-view imagery supporting bank/infrastructure inspection.
Imagery · ~410,000 imagesHydrographic/bathymetric datasets
Dense multibeam riverbed point clouds and supporting coverage/QA data.
LAS 1.4Navigation data production
Depth information was edited and checked in a standards-aware production workflow
Production screens show depth-contour editing and rule-based inspection in SuperMap iMaritimeEditor as part of the data-production workflow. The application is presented as a production tool within MapSoft's documented geospatial scope, not as a standalone end-user system delivered by MapSoft.
Quality assurance
QA/QC remained visible from airborne control to hydrographic cross-checking
The project required georeferencing, cross-sensor consistency, classification completeness, overlap/transition checks and controlled land–water integration. Hydrographic activities were led by FIG/IHO/ICA Category B specialists, with public reference permitted to IHO S-44 Special Order requirements applied to the hydrographic component.
The QA plots illustrate trajectory and alignment checks; project-wide performance figures are stated only where formally validated.
Airborne LiDAR validation
Hydrographic validation
What the integrated data makes visible
One high-resolution river model exposes infrastructure, terrain and submerged features in the same spatial context
Integrated visualizations show the range of features visible in the dataset. Archaeological or historical interpretation was outside MapSoft's documented scope.
What this project proves
Danube & Sava River Mapping is a flagship proof that MapSoft can design and execute a very large multisensor geospatial programme, select the correct acquisition method for each physical environment, manage tens of billions of points and integrate independent airborne, shore, structure and underwater datasets into one reliable engineering-ready model.
Danube & Sava River Mapping is one of MapSoft's strongest reality-capture references: a very large linear programme, multiple acquisition technologies, tens of billions of measured points and one controlled integration problem across dry land, vertical banks, structures, water and submerged terrain.
Airborne LiDARMobile MappingMultibeam BathymetryUAV LiDAR + RGBTopobathymetric Integration0.5 m Hybrid DTMIHO S-44
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Talk to MapSoft about coordinated airborne LiDAR, mobile mapping, hydrographic survey, UAV mapping, point-cloud processing and topobathymetric integration for complex river and infrastructure corridors.