Processing of laser scanner data—algorithms and applications

Airborne laser scanning systems are opening new possibilities for surveys and documentation of difficult areas and objects, such as dense city areas, forest areas and electrical power lines. Laser scanner systems available on the market are presently in a fairly mature state of art while the processing of airborne laser scanner data still is in an early phase of development. To come from irregular 3D point clouds to useful representations and formats for an end-user requires continued research and development of methods and algorithms for interpretation and modelling. This paper presents some methods and algorithms concerning filtering for determining the ground surface, DEM, classification of buildings for 3D City Models and the detection of electrical power lines. The classification algorithms are based on the Minimum Description Length criterion. The use of reflectance data and multiple echoes from the laser scanner is examined and found to be useful in many applications. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.