The Battle of Bloody Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Edson’s Ridge, was one of the most significant battles of the Guadalcanal Campaign during WWII. The battle was fought between Japanese and US ground forces on the 12^th – 14^th September 1942, and was part of an offensive by Japan to retake Henderson Airport, which had been taken by US Marines on the 7th of August. During a series of furious assaults Japanese forces came very close to breaking through the American lines, and the whole campaign hung in the balance. Guadalcanal proved to be the turning point in WWII for the Allied forces in the Pacific, and Bloody Ridge was the turning point of the Guadalcanal Campaign. Due to the significance of this site the Solomon Islands government declared Bloody Ridge a national Park in 2017. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is currently planning to develop the Park into a world-class WWII visitor attraction.

Project Snapshot

Project Scope

As part of Kahuto Pacific’s Impact Initiative we were able to assist the Solomon Islands Ministry of Tourism with one of their biggest hurdles – Mapping the Bloody Ridge for future developments and tourism attraction. Considering all the action that took place along with illegal settlers in the area, the safest and most efficient way to execute this would be a combination of Aerial Photogrammetry and LiDAR scan of the site.

Solution

The team recorded a couple of ground controls throughout the site to ensure that the aerial data captured is tying in accurately. This will aid in the Ministry of Tourisms planning phase of what should be a national attraction when complete. UAV operation was done at a safe distance ensuring safety and drone visibility.

A Digital Surface Model (DSM), Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with contours were extracted from the aerial operation. The data delivered not only enabled the Ministry of Tourism to have better data to plan but also have a proper analysis of the battleground, identifying trails soldiers took, bunkers and foxholes used for protection, which ultimately be used as part of the museum.

Challenges

As the site had some illegal settlers who claimed property over the Ministry, it was important the team had proper security from the park rangers as well as representatives from the Ministry of Tourism to assist. Being 2 kilo-meters away from the airport we had to meticulously coordinate with the Air Traffic Control to confirm our windows of opportunity to fly.

Results