scholarly journals Performance Comparison of Filtering Algorithms for High-Density Airborne LiDAR Point Clouds over Complex LandScapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2663
Author(s):  
Chuanfa Chen ◽  
Jiaojiao Guo ◽  
Huiming Wu ◽  
Yanyan Li ◽  
Bo Shi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Total Error ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Performance Comparison ◽  
High Density ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Type I ◽  
Filtering Algorithms ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Complex Landscapes

Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology has become the mainstream data source in geosciences and environmental sciences. Point cloud filtering is a prerequisite for almost all LiDAR-based applications. However, it is challenging to select a suitable filtering algorithm for handling high-density point clouds over complex landscapes. Therefore, to determine an appropriate filter on a specific environment, this paper comparatively assessed the performance of five representative filtering algorithms on six study sites with different terrain characteristics, where three plots are located in urban areas and three in forest areas. The representative filtering methods include simple morphological filter (SMRF), multiresolution hierarchical filter (MHF), slope-based filter (SBF), progressive TIN densification (PTD) and segmentation-based filter (SegBF). Results demonstrate that SMRF performs the best in urban areas, and compared to MHF, SBF, PTD and SegBF, the total error of SMRF is reduced by 1.38%, 48.21%, 48.25% and 31.03%, respectively. MHF outperforms the others in forest areas, and compared to SMRF, SBF, PTD and SegBF, the total error of MHF is reduced by 1.98%, 35.87%, 45.11% and 9.42%, respectively. Moreover, both SMRF and MHF keep a good balance between type I and II errors, which makes the produced DEMs much similar to the references. Overall, SMRF and MHF are recommended for urban and forest areas, respectively, and MHF averagely performs slightly better than SMRF on all areas with respect to kappa coefficient.

scholarly journals A THRESHOLD-FREE FILTERING ALGORITHM FOR AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS BASED ON EXPECTATION-MAXIMIZATION

2018 ◽  
Vol XLII-3 ◽  
pp. 607-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Hui ◽  
P. Cheng ◽  
Y. Y. Ziggah ◽  
Y. Nie
Keyword(s):  
Expectation Maximization ◽  
Total Error ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Maximum Likelihood Estimates ◽  
Filtering Algorithms ◽  
Filtering Algorithm ◽  
Intensity Information ◽  
Em Method

Filtering is a key step for most applications of airborne LiDAR point clouds. Although lots of filtering algorithms have been put forward in recent years, most of them suffer from parameters setting or thresholds adjusting, which will be time-consuming and reduce the degree of automation of the algorithm. To overcome this problem, this paper proposed a threshold-free filtering algorithm based on expectation-maximization. The proposed algorithm is developed based on an assumption that point clouds are seen as a mixture of Gaussian models. The separation of ground points and non-ground points from point clouds can be replaced as a separation of a mixed Gaussian model. Expectation-maximization (EM) is applied for realizing the separation. EM is used to calculate maximum likelihood estimates of the mixture parameters. Using the estimated parameters, the likelihoods of each point belonging to ground or object can be computed. After several iterations, point clouds can be labelled as the component with a larger likelihood. Furthermore, intensity information was also utilized to optimize the filtering results acquired using the EM method. The proposed algorithm was tested using two different datasets used in practice. Experimental results showed that the proposed method can filter non-ground points effectively. To quantitatively evaluate the proposed method, this paper adopted the dataset provided by the ISPRS for the test. The proposed algorithm can obtain a 4.48 % total error which is much lower than most of the eight classical filtering algorithms reported by the ISPRS.

scholarly journals High-Resolution Terrain Modeling Using Airborne LiDAR Data with Transfer Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 3448
Author(s):  
Huxiong Li ◽  
Weiya Ye ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Weikai Tan ◽  
Saied Pirasteh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Learning ◽  
Total Error ◽  
Digital Terrain Model ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Terrain Model ◽  
Digital Terrain ◽  
Airborne Lidar Data

This study presents a novel workflow for automated Digital Terrain Model (DTM) extraction from Airborne LiDAR point clouds based on a convolutional neural network (CNN), considering a transfer learning approach. The workflow consists of three parts: feature image generation, transfer learning using ResNet, and interpolation. First, each point is transformed into a featured image based on its elevation differences with neighboring points. Then, the feature images are classified into ground and non-ground using ImageNet pretrained ResNet models. The ground points are extracted by remapping each feature image to its corresponding points. Last, the extracted ground points are interpolated to generate a continuous elevation surface. We compared the proposed workflow with two traditional filters, namely the Progressive Morphological Filter (PMF) and the Progressive Triangulated Irregular Network Densification (PTD). Our results show that the proposed workflow establishes an advantageous DTM extraction accuracy with yields of only 0.52%, 4.84%, and 2.43% for Type I, Type II, and the total error, respectively. In comparison, Type I, Type II, and the total error for PMF are 7.82%, 11.60%, and 9.48% and for PTD 1.55%, 5.37%, and 3.22%, respectively. The root means square error (RMSE) for the 1 m resolution interpolated DTM is only 7.3 cm. Moreover, we conducted a qualitative analysis to investigate the reliability and limitations of the proposed workflow.

scholarly journals An Improved Progressive TIN Densification Filtering Method Considering the Density and Standard Variance of Point Clouds

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youqiang Dong ◽  
Ximin Cui ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Haibin Ai
Keyword(s):  
Point Clouds ◽  
High Density ◽  
Type I ◽  
Densification Process ◽  
Type I Errors ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Standard Variance ◽  
Triangular Irregular Network ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Type Ii Errors

The progressive TIN (triangular irregular network) densification (PTD) filter algorithm is widely used for filtering point clouds. In the PTD algorithm, the iterative densification parameters become smaller over the entire process of filtering. This leads to the performance—especially the type I errors of the PTD algorithm—being poor for point clouds with high density and standard variance. Hence, an improved PTD filtering algorithm for point clouds with high density and variance is proposed in this paper. This improved PTD method divides the iterative densification process into two stages. In the first stage, the iterative densification process of the PTD algorithm is used, and the two densification parameters become smaller. When the density of points belonging to the TIN is higher than a certain value (in this paper, we define this density as the standard variance intervention density), the iterative densification process moves into the second stage. In the second stage, a new iterative densification strategy based on multi-scales is proposed, and the angle threshold becomes larger. The experimental results show that the improved PTD algorithm can effectively reduce the type I errors and total errors of the DIM point clouds by 7.53% and 4.09%, respectively, compared with the PTD algorithm. Although the type II errors increase slightly in our improved method, the wrongly added objective points have little effect on the accuracy of the generated DSM. In short, our improved PTD method perfects the classical PTD method and offers a better solution for filtering point clouds with high density and standard variance.

scholarly journals AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC POINTWISE SEMANTIC SEGMENTATION OF A 3D URBAN SCENE FROM MOBILE TERRESTRIAL AND AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS: A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH

2019 ◽  
Vol IV-4/W8 ◽  
pp. 139-146
Author(s):  
X.-F. Xing ◽  
M. A. Mostafavi ◽  
G. Edwards ◽  
N. Sabo
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Semantic Segmentation ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Urban Scenes ◽  
Machine Learning Approach ◽  
Urban Scene ◽  
Point Level

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Automatic semantic segmentation of point clouds observed in a 3D complex urban scene is a challenging issue. Semantic segmentation of urban scenes based on machine learning algorithm requires appropriate features to distinguish objects from mobile terrestrial and airborne LiDAR point clouds in point level. In this paper, we propose a pointwise semantic segmentation method based on our proposed features derived from Difference of Normal and the features “directional height above” that compare height difference between a given point and neighbors in eight directions in addition to the features based on normal estimation. Random forest classifier is chosen to classify points in mobile terrestrial and airborne LiDAR point clouds. The results obtained from our experiments show that the proposed features are effective for semantic segmentation of mobile terrestrial and airborne LiDAR point clouds, especially for vegetation, building and ground classes in an airborne LiDAR point clouds in urban areas.</p>

Development on Filtering Algorithms of Airborne LiDAR Point Clouds

2012 ◽  
Vol 226-228 ◽  
pp. 1892-1898
Author(s):  
Jian Qing Shi ◽  
Ting Chen Jiang ◽  
Ming Lian Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Filtering Algorithms ◽  
Filtering Algorithm ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
City Model ◽  
Elevation Model

Airborne LiDAR is a new kind of surveying technology of remote sensing which developed rapidly during recent years. Raw laser scanning point clouds data include terrain points, building points, vegetation points, outlier points, etc.. In order to generate digital elevation model (DEM) and three-dimensional city model,these point clouds data must be filtered. Mathematical morphology based filtering algorithm, slope based filtering algorithm, TIN based filtering algorithm, moving surface based filtering algorithm, scanning lines based filtering algorithm and so on several representative filtering algorithms for LiDAR point clouds data have been introduced and discussed and contrasted in this paper. Based on these algorithms summarize the studying progresss about the filtering algorithm of airborne LiDAR point clouds data in home and abroad. In the end, the paper gives an expectation which will provides a reference for the following relative study.

scholarly journals Hybrid Overlap Filter for LiDAR Point Clouds Using Free Software

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Buján ◽  
Miguel Cordero ◽  
David Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Total Error ◽  
Digital Terrain Model ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Flow Diagram ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
Filtering Algorithms ◽  
Filtering Method ◽  
Hybrid Filtering ◽  
Seed Points ◽  
Reference Samples

Despite the large amounts of resources destined to developing filtering algorithms of LiDAR point clouds in order to obtain a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), the task remains a challenge. As a society advancing towards the democratization of information and collaborative processes, the researchers should not only focus on improving the efficacy of filters, but should also consider the users’ needs with a view toward improving the usability and accessibility of the filters in order to develop tools that will provide solutions to the challenges facing this field of study. In this work, we describe the Hybrid Overlap Filter (HyOF), a new filtering algorithm implemented in the free R software environment. The flow diagram of HyOF differs in the following ways from that of other filters developed to date: (1) the algorithm is formed by a combination of sequentially operating functions (i.e., the output of the first function provides the input of the second), which are capable of functioning independently and thus enabling integration of these functions with other filtering algorithms; (2) the variable penetrability is defined and used, along with slope and elevation, to identify ground points; (3) prior to selection of the seed points, the original point cloud is processed with the aim of removing points corresponding to buildings; and (4) a new method based on a moving window, with longitudinal overlap between windows and transverse overlap between passes, is used to select the seed points. Our hybrid filtering method is tested using 15 reference samples acquired by the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and is evaluated in comparison with 33 existing filtering algorithms. The results show that our hybrid filtering method produces an average total error of 3.34% and an average Kappa coefficient of 92.62%. The proposed algorithm is one of the most accurate filters that has been tested with the ISPRS reference samples.

scholarly journals Mapping Individual Tree Species and Vitality along Urban Road Corridors with LiDAR and Imaging Sensors: Point Density versus View Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianwei Wu ◽  
Wei Yao ◽  
Przemyslaw Polewski
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Scanning System ◽  
Urban Road ◽  
Road Corridors ◽  
Laser Scanning System

To meet a growing demand for accurate high-fidelity vegetation cover mapping in urban areas toward biodiversity conservation and assessing the impact of climate change, this paper proposes a complete approach to species and vitality classification at single tree level by synergistic use of multimodality 3D remote sensing data. So far, airborne laser scanning system(ALS or airborne LiDAR) has shown promising results in tree cover mapping for urban areas. This paper analyzes the potential of mobile laser scanning system/mobile mapping system (MLS/MMS)-based methods for recognition of urban plant species and characterization of growth conditions using ultra-dense LiDAR point clouds and provides an objective comparison with the ALS-based methods. Firstly, to solve the extremely intensive computational burden caused by the classification of ultra-dense MLS data, a new method for the semantic labeling of LiDAR data in the urban road environment is developed based on combining a conditional random field (CRF) for the context-based classification of 3D point clouds with shape priors. These priors encode geometric primitives found in the scene through sample consensus segmentation. Then, single trees are segmented from the labelled tree points using the 3D graph cuts algorithm. Multinomial logistic regression classifiers are used to determine the fine deciduous urban tree species of conversation concern and their growth vitality. Finally, the weight-of-evidence (WofE) based decision fusion method is applied to combine the probability outputs of classification results from the MLS and ALS data. The experiment results obtained in city road corridors demonstrated that point cloud data acquired from the airborne platform achieved even slightly better results in terms of tree detection rate, tree species and vitality classification accuracy, although the tree vitality distribution in the test site is less balanced compared to the species distribution. When combined with MLS data, overall accuracies of 78% and 74% for tree species and vitality classification can be achieved, which has improved by 5.7% and 4.64% respectively compared to the usage of airborne data only.

scholarly journals Automatic Extraction of Road Points from Airborne LiDAR Based on Bidirectional Skewness Balancing

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2025
Author(s):  
Jorge Martínez Sánchez ◽  
Francisco Fernández Rivera ◽  
José Carlos Cabaleiro Domínguez ◽  
David López Vilariño ◽  
Tomás Fernández Pena
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Density ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Critical Parameters ◽  
Automatic Extraction ◽  
Intensity Threshold ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Optimal Intensity ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Manual Input

Road extraction from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has become a hot topic over recent years. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to perform this task in a fully automatic way. Experiments are often carried out over small datasets with a focus on urban areas and it is unclear how these methods perform in less urbanized sites. Furthermore, some methods require the manual input of critical parameters, such as an intensity threshold. Aiming to address these issues, this paper proposes a method for the automatic extraction of road points suitable for different landscapes. Road points are identified using pipeline filtering based on a set of constraints defined on the intensity, curvature, local density, and area. We focus especially on the intensity constraint, as it is the key factor to distinguish between road and ground points. The optimal intensity threshold is established automatically by an improved version of the skewness balancing algorithm. Evaluation was conducted on ten study sites with different degrees of urbanization. Road points were successfully extracted in all of them with an overall completeness of 93%, a correctness of 83%, and a quality of 78%. These results are competitive with the state-of-the-art.

scholarly journals HIERARCHICAL HIGHER ORDER CRF FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS IN URBAN AREAS

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B3 ◽  
pp. 655-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Niemeyer ◽  
F. Rottensteiner ◽  
U. Soergel ◽  
C. Heipke
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Conditional Random Field ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Classification Result ◽  
3D Lidar ◽  
Point Level

We propose a novel hierarchical approach for the classification of airborne 3D lidar points. Spatial and semantic context is incorporated via a two-layer Conditional Random Field (CRF). The first layer operates on a point level and utilises higher order cliques. Segments are generated from the labelling obtained in this way. They are the entities of the second layer, which incorporates larger scale context. The classification result of the segments is introduced as an energy term for the next iteration of the point-based layer. This framework iterates and mutually propagates context to improve the classification results. Potentially wrong decisions can be revised at later stages. The output is a labelled point cloud as well as segments roughly corresponding to object instances. Moreover, we present two new contextual features for the segment classification: the &lt;i&gt;distance&lt;/i&gt; and the &lt;i&gt;orientation of a segment with respect to the closest road&lt;/i&gt;. It is shown that the classification benefits from these features. In our experiments the hierarchical framework improve the overall accuracies by 2.3% on a point-based level and by 3.0% on a segment-based level, respectively, compared to a purely point-based classification.

scholarly journals SVM-Based Classification of Segmented Airborne LiDAR Point Clouds in Urban Areas

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 3749-3775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jixian Zhang ◽  
Xiangguo Lin ◽  
Xiaogang Ning
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar
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