Aerial Laser Scanning

Commission VI Special Interest Group “Technology Transfer Caravan”
Aerial Laser Scanning
Claus Brenner
with contributions from George Vosselman and George Sithole
Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics

University of Hannover, Appelstr. 9a, 30167 Hannover, Germany
claus.brenner@ikg.uni-hannover.de
www.ikg.uni-hannover.de
Claus Brenner
International Summer School “Digital Recording and 3D Modeling”, Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece, 24-29 April 2006
Contents
• Airborne laser scanning principles

• Errors and strip adjustment
• Filtering of ALS data
• Extraction and modelling
Claus Brenner
Airborne laser scanning

principles
Claus Brenner
Basic components of an ALS system
DGPS Laser
Deflection
INS Ranging
Control & unit
unit
data recording
Ground
Claus Brenner
Laser Laser
• Semiconductor lasers or Nd:YAG lasers pumped by semiconductor lasers

• Mostly Nd:YAG = neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet, Nd:Y3Al5O12
• Emits at λ = 1064 nm (near infrared)
• Bathymetric scanners often use λ = 532 nm (green) obtained by frequency doubling
• Others: e.g. 810 nm (ScaLARS), 900 nm (FLI-MAP), 1540 nm (TopoSys)
• Properties exploited: high collimation, high optical power
• Pulsed (time of flight ranging) or continuous wave (CW, sidetone ranging)
Claus Brenner
Pulsed laser operation Laser
tp
Signal
amplitude
t Typical characteristics:
trise
• Pulse width
tp = 10 ns (Æ 3 m @ speed of light)
• Pulse rise time
trise = 1 ns (Æ 30 cm @ speed of light)
• Peak power
Ppeak = 2,000 W
3m
• Energy per pulse
E = Ppeak · tp = 20 μJ
• Average power (@ pulse repetition rate F = 10 kHz)
Pav = E · F = 0.2 W
Ground
Claus Brenner
Continuous laser operation Laser
Modulation
signal
t
Signal
amplitude
t
Ground
Modulation
signal
Characteristics (ScaLARS):
• Two modulation frequencies
Signal fhigh = 10 MHz, flow = 1 MHz
amplitude Æ λshort = 30 m, λlong = 300 m
• Average power (continuous operation)
Pav = 0.26 W
Claus Brenner
Ambiguities (pulse) Laser
• Travelling time:
h=R 2R
ttravel =
c
Ground • Example:
h = R = 1000 m Æ ttravel = 6.7 μs
• tp = 10 ns can be neglected
AT • Maximum pulse frequency (assuming no transmit /
next pulse
receive overlap):
c
AR t f max = 1 / ttravel =
ttravel 2R
• Example:
tp t h = R = 1000 m Æ fmax = 150 kHz
Claus Brenner
Ambiguities (CW) Laser
• Maximum unambiguous range determined by λlong :
λlong
Ground Rmax =
2
• Example:
λlong = 300 m Æ Rmax = 150 m
AT
• Range gating:
t Known height, possible range
differences < 150 m
AR
• Range tracking:
If no steps > 150 m are present
t
λ
Claus Brenner
Scanning mechanisms & ground patterns Deflection

unit
Oscillating Rotating Nutating mirror Fiber

mirror polygon (Palmer scan) switch
Laser
(same for
receiving
optics)
Z-shaped, Parallel “Elliptical” Parallel

sinusodial lines lines
Claus Brenner
Polygon mirror example Deflection

unit
25 cm @
0.5 mrad
beam
…
…
divergence
θ/2=20°
h=500 m
0.08° Æ 70 cm
364 m
500 pulses / line
…
…
1
∝
cos 2 θ i
0.08° Æ 79 cm
Swath width
⎛θ ⎞ Repetition rate
2h tan⎜ ⎟ = 0.7 h = 364m
⎝ 2⎠ 50 lines / s 83 cm 50 kHz, average
v = 150 km/h pulse rate 25 kHz
Claus Brenner
Fiber switch details Deflection

unit
(TopoSys Falcon)
Laser
To ground
and back
Receiver
Claus Brenner
Fiber scanner example Deflection

unit
Fiber 128
...
θ/2=7° Fiber 3
h=500 m 0.25h / 127
= 0.002 h spot diameter
≈1m 25 cm
Fiber 2
Swath width Fiber 1

⎛θ ⎞
2h tan⎜ ⎟ = 0.25h = 123m 630 lines/s 11 cm
⎝2⎠ v = 252 km/h
Claus Brenner
Palmer scan Deflection

unit
7 deg. nutating 30 deg. nutating Scan pattern with forward

mirror mirror (hypothetical) motion of aircraft (7 deg. nutating mirror)
Claus Brenner
Beam divergence
• Laser beam widens with distance

• Beam divergence γ
λ
D, aperture diameter • Theoretical limit by diffraction γ ≥ 2.44
D
• Example:
λ = 1064 nm, D = 10 cm Æ 0.026 mrad
• Typical values for ALS:
h γ = 0.3 – 2 mrad
γ • Ground spot diameter
2
DI = D + 2h tan(γ 2)
≈ 2h tan(γ 2)
≈ hγ
DI, diameter of
illuminated area • Example:
γ = 1 mrad
Ground Æ 1 m diameter @ h = 1 km flying height
(not to scale)
Claus Brenner
Power balance
4 - Power received:
Ar
Ar M 2 Ar
Pr = ⋅ M ⋅ ρ ⋅ M ⋅ PT = ρ ⋅ PT
2π R 2 2π R 2
1 - Power transmitted:
R PT • PT = 2000 W
3 - Power reflected, assuming • Atmospheric transmission

Lambertian surface: M = 0.8
ψ • Ar = 80 cm2 (Dr = 10 cm)
⋅ ρ ⋅ M ⋅ PT
2π • R = 1 km
2 - Power received: • Reflectivity ρ = 0.5
M ⋅ PT
Ground
Æ Pr = 4 · 10-10 PT = 800 nW
Claus Brenner
Reflectivity
Reflectivity vs. material Range vs. reflectivity
MATERIAL REFLECTIVITY
@ λ = 900 nm
M 2 Ar
Dimension lumber (pine, clean, dry) 94% Pr = ρ ⋅ PT ⇒ R∝ ρ
Snow 80-90% 2π R 2
White masonry 85% 120
Range factor [%] *

Limestone, clay up to 75%
100
Deciduous trees typ. 60%
80
Coniferous trees typ. 30%
Carbonate sand (dry) 57% 60
Carbonate sand (wet) 41% 40

Beach sands, bare areas in desert typ. 50%
20
Rough wood pallet (clean) 25%
Concrete, smooth 24% 0 20 40 60 80 100
Asphalt with pebbles 17% Target reflectivity [%]
Lava 8%
Black rubber tire wall 2%
Source: www.riegl.co.at * Normalized to 100% @ 80% reflectivity
Claus Brenner
Interaction with target
AT
AR
first pulse last pulse
5m
t
tp
Pulse width
10 ns Æ 3 m @ speed of light
Æ Δh = 1.5 m
Æ pulses separable
Claus Brenner

AT
t
AR,1
t1
Detection accuracy ≈ 10-15% t

of rise time ≈ 2-5 cm
AR,2
t2
t
7 ns
Measured range will be an intermediate value
(mixed echo)
Claus Brenner
... t
AR
Large area, Small area,

small reflectivity large reflectivity
(same for
sloped terrain)
• Minimum detectable object size depends on reflectivity

• Measured range depends on distribution of reflectivity inside laser ground spot area
Claus Brenner
Canopy penetration gets worse Specular reflection

with increasing scan angles Water, wet surfaces, slate
Æ no return signal
Claus Brenner
Ranging
Pulse: CW: Ranging
unit
AT AT λ
AR t AR
t
t φ
t t
• Range • Range
c 1 φ
R= ⋅t R= ⋅ ⋅ λshort
2 2 2π
• Range resolution • Range resolution
c λshort c 1
ΔR = ⋅ Δt ΔR = ⋅ Δφ = ⋅ ⋅ Δφ
2 4π 4π f high
• Range accuracy • Range accuracy
c 1 λshort 1
σR ∝ t rise ⋅ σR ∝ ⋅
2 S/N 4π S/N Claus Brenner
Ranging: Pulse vs. CW Ranging

unit
• In CW ranging, resolution and accuracy can be improved by using higher modulation

frequencies
• Resolution:
CW, λshort = 30 m (10 MHz), Δφ/2π = 1/16384 (14 bit) Æ ΔR = 0.9 mm !
• Cf. required time resolution for pulse ranging:
Δt = 2 ΔR / c = 6.1 ps (164 GHz) !
• For the accuracy, S/N is important

depends on transmitted power, e.g. Pulse Ppeak = 2000 W vs. CW Pav = 1 W
Æ σR,CW / σR, pulse = 85, achieved by 2000 x power [Wehr, Lohr 99]
• Pulse lasers with high power are available

• CW semiconductor lasers with Pav > 2 W, fhigh > 10 MHz scarce
• σR, pulse typically 2-5 cm
• Does not apply to centimetre level measurement in the close range domain!
Claus Brenner
Ranging: full waveform analysis Ranging

unit
tree crown
power line
ground
bush
AR
t
First pulse Last pulse
t0 Data
t1 recorder
AR
1 GS/s
t
Data
recorder
Claus Brenner

unit
Source: Riegl, 2006
Claus Brenner

unit
• “Unlimited” number of returns per shot

• Multiple target detection down 0.5 metres
• Surface roughness, slope
• Vegetation
• Discontinuities
• User-defined post-processing methods, no need for real time, neighbourhood analysis
• Riegl LMS-Q560, Litemapper 5600, Optech ALTM 3100, TopEye Mark II
Claus Brenner
Examples of ALS
Claus Brenner
Scanner examples
System Optech ALTM Riegl LMS-Q560 TopoSys
3100EA Falcon II
Laser 1064 nm near IR 1540 nm
Altitude 80 – 3500 m 30 – 1500 m 60 – 1600 m
Range measurements up to 4 full waveform first and last
Scan frequency max. 70 Hz max. 160 Hz max. 630 Hz
Scan angle max. ± 25° max. ± 30° ± 7° (fixed)
Pulse rate max. 100 kHz max. 100 kHz, 83 kHz
50 kHz @ ± 22.5°
Beam divergence 0.3 mrad 0.5 mrad 0.5 mrad
Beam pattern oscillating, rotating polygon, fiber switch,
sawtooth parallel parallel
• Others: FLI-MAP (Fugro-Inpark), LiteMapper (IGI mbH), GeoMapper 3D

(Laseroptronix), ALS series (Leica), TopEye MK II (TopEye AB)
Claus Brenner
Optech ALTM 3100
All images taken from www.optech.ca Claus Brenner

Riegl LMS-Q560 / LMS-Q280i
(Scanner & data recorder only)
Images taken from www.riegl.co.at Claus Brenner

IGI LiteMapper
(uses scanners from Riegl)

Images taken from www.litemapper.com Claus Brenner
TopoSys
Falcon II, III (fiber)
Harrier (uses scanners from Riegl)

Images taken from www.toposys.de Claus Brenner
FLI-MAP
FLI-MAP 400
All images taken from www.flimap.com Claus Brenner

Errors and strip adjustment
Claus Brenner
Errors and strip adjustment
• Error sources
• Geometrical error budget
• Strip adjustment
Claus Brenner
Coordinate systems
tIRFÆECF
tARFÆIRF
DGPS Laser
Deflection
INS Ranging unit
unit
Inertial reference frame Aircraft/ scanner

Moving with aircraft reference frame
Moving with aircraft
Earth centered
reference frame
ECEF, WGS84
Claus Brenner
Error sources
• Laser measurement (range, angle: electronics aging & drift)

• DGPS (receiver, satellite constellation, ground reference constellation)
• INS (receiver: frequency, drift)
• Offset / alignment between GPS, INS, laser scanner
• Dynamic bend of IMU / scanner mounting plate
• Time synchronization and interpolation (GPS: 1-10/s, INS 200/s, turbulent flight)
• Transformation to local coordinate system
• Basic geometric configuration
Claus Brenner
Error budget (geometry)

Z
κ
Δκ
ϕ
Δϕ
ΔX0, ΔY0, ΔZ0
ω
Δω
Δβ h
Y
ΔR
ΔZ
ΔY
X
ΔX
Claus Brenner
due Error budget (geometry)

to
error Total
β Δω Δϕ Δκ Δβ ΔR ΔX0 ΔY0 ΔZ0 Total @h=1000
in
0 0 22.4 53.0
ΔX 15 0 20.9 7.5 0 0 8 0 0 23.6 56.2
30 16.1 27.6 66.6
0 0 26.4 63.5
ΔY 15 20.9 0 0 14 1.3 0 8 0 26.4 63.5
30 2.5 26.5 63.6
0 0 0 5 9.4 9.4
ΔZ 15 5.6 0 0 4 5 0 0 8 11.7 19.1
30 12.1 8 4 17.0 37.3
Assumptions: h = 400 m (except last col. h = 1000 m), ω = ϕ = κ =0, cm 0 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+
Δω = Δϕ = 0.03°, Δκ = 0.04°, Δβ = 0.02°,
ΔR = 5 cm, ΔX0 = ΔY0 = ΔZ0 = 8 cm Source: [Baltsavias, 1999a]
Claus Brenner
Error budget: conclusions

Total
0 0 22.4 53.0
ΔX 15 0 20.9 7.5 0 0 8 0 0 23.6 56.2
30 16.1 27.6 66.6
0 0 26.4 63.5
ΔY 15 20.9 0 0 14 1.3 0 8 0 26.4 63.5
30 2.5 26.5 63.6
0 0 0 5 9.4 9.4
ΔZ 15 5.6 0 0 4 5 0 0 8 11.7 19.1
30 12.1 8 4 17.0 37.3
• ΔY slightly larger than ΔX for small β (due to Δβ error)

Source: [Baltsavias, 1999a]
• changes for larger β (due to Δκ error)
Claus Brenner

Total
0 0 22.4 53.0
ΔX 15 0 20.9 7.5 0 0 8 0 0 23.6 56.2
30 16.1 27.6 66.6
0 0 26.4 63.5
ΔY 15 20.9 0 0 14 1.3 0 8 0 26.4 63.5
30 2.5 26.5 63.6
0 0 0 5 9.4 9.4
ΔZ 15 5.6 0 0 4 5 0 0 8 11.7 19.1
30 12.1 8 4 17.0 37.3
• ΔR has only marginal influence on ΔZ

• and almost no influence on ΔX, ΔY.
Claus Brenner

Total
0 0 22.4 53.0
ΔX 15 0 20.9 7.5 0 0 8 0 0 23.6 56.2
30 16.1 27.6 66.6
0 0 26.4 63.5
ΔY 15 20.9 0 0 14 1.3 0 8 0 26.4 63.5
30 2.5 26.5 63.6
0 0 0 5 9.4 9.4
ΔZ 15 5.6 0 0 4 5 0 0 8 11.7 19.1
30 12.1 8 4 17.0 37.3
• ΔZ smaller than ΔX, ΔY and less dependent on h

Reason: ΔR, ΔZ0 dominate and are nearly independent of h
• ΔZ mainly depends on ΔZ0 (GPS!) (and ΔR) for small β Claus Brenner

Total
0 0 22.4 53.0
ΔX 15 0 20.9 7.5 0 0 8 0 0 23.6 56.2
30 16.1 27.6 ΔZ
66.6
0 0 26.4 63.5
ΔY 15 20.9 0 0 14 1.3 0 8 0 26.4
ΔX, ΔY 63.5
30 2.5 26.5 63.6
0 0 0 5 9.4 9.4
ΔZ 15 5.6 0 0 4 5 0 0 8 11.7 19.1
30 12.1 8 4 17.0 37.3
• ΔZ given is too optimistic

• especially for sloped terrain, ΔX, ΔY dominate
Claus Brenner
Counter measures
• Constructional measures
• Highly stable mechanics, low drift in electronics, highly accurate time sync.,
internal reference measurement …
• Calibration
• Factory calibration of laser scanner, GPS/INS alignment …
• Flight specific measures
• Good satellite constellation, close reference station, little turbulence …
• Still systematic errors will remain, especially visible at strip overlaps

• Æ strip adjustment
Claus Brenner
Strip adjustment
Create a seamless data set by

correcting for the systematic errors.
(Slide provided by George Vosselman) Claus Brenner

Strip adjustment
• Analogy to independent model adjustment with self-

calibration parameters
• Modelling of shifts, drifts and other systematic errors
• Measurement of tie points
• Measurement of control points
• Adjust strips such that
– corresponding tie points are transformed to same terrain
point
– misclosures at control points are minimal

Strip adjustment
Independent strips with tie Strips transformed to reference

points system
(ifp / J. Kilian)

Strip adjustment
• 1D strip adjustment
• 3D strip adjustment
• Measurement of corresponding
– points in height data
– ditches and ridges in height data
– edges in reflectance data

1D adjustment
• only correct the height

• mathematical model for control point in strip s
Δ H = a s + bs X ( −Xs
c
)+ c (Y s
− Ysc
)
as offset in height
bs tilt in flight direction
cs tilt across flight direction
Xsc , Ysc centre of strip s

1D adjustment
• mathematical model for tie point between strip s and strip t
Δ H = a s + bs X ( ) + c (Y ) − −Xs
c
s
− Ysc
a − b (X − X ) − c (Y −Y )
t t t
c
t t
c

Problems
• unmodelled errors lead to large distortions
• case: range offset before adjustment

or scale error in the
scanning angle
possible solutions: after adjustment

– more reference points
– cross strips
tilt
offset

3D adjustment
Modelling systematic errors in terrain coordinates:

• Approximation by 1st and 2nd order polynomials.
• Modelling the effect of sensor errors on terrain coordinates.
3D adjustment requires estimation of 3D offsets between

• overlapping strips
• strips and reference data.

3D adjustment
Two approaches:
• Take height differences in suitable areas as observations

(cf. area based matching)
• First extract corresponding features, then use those as

observations
(cf. feature based matching)

Segmentation of overlaps
(Slide provided by George Vosselman)

Claus Brenner
Offset estimation
Planimetric offsets may be estimated from
• sloped surfaces
• reflection data

Offset estimation
Height differences only are not sufficient
flat roof gable roof

Measurement of tie points
Area based image matching

Simple mathematical modelling
• “Geometric” transformation
X s = X t + ΔX
Ys = Yt + ΔY
• “Radiometric” transformation
Z s ( X s , Ys ) = Z t ( X t , Yt ) + Δ Z

Using ditches
Fitting of point clouds to ditch profile

model
• No data interpolation
• Noisy free gradients
• Better accuracy estimates

Eelde dataset
Point density
1 pts / 3 m2
Strip width
225 m

Ditch measurements
Pixel
size

2m
Claus Brenner
Point clouds
Original data
After fitting
Original data
After fitting

Using gable roofs
Point density
6 pts/m2
Strip width
90 m
Measurements
6 ridge lines

Claus Brenner
Using gable roofs

Pixel size 1 m Claus Brenner
Using gable roofs
Next strip overlap
Measurements
10 ridge lines

Using gable roofs

Point clouds
Original data After fitting

Offset estimation in reflectance data
Reflection data is noisy
• peak reflection strength,

no integration
• low reflectance strength in case of

multiple heights within footprint
• footprint much smaller than point

distance Æ needs to be modelled
Long edges are preferred

Conclusions offset estimation
• Offsets estimated in height and reflectance data will be

biased when using standard image matching tools.
• Offset estimations in height data should use continuous

surfaces only.
• Fitting models to height data avoids interpolation errors.
• Modelling edge response in reflectance data allows

unbiased offset estimation, but requires long edges.

3D strip adjustment results
Model: 3 shifts, 3 rotations, and 3 rotation drifts
Sensor FLI-MAP Optech

Point density 5-6 pts/m2 0.3 pts/m2
Flying height 110 m 500 m
Number of strips 2 4
Number of tie points 75 46
σ before adjustment 15.2 cm 35.6 cm
σ after adjustment 9.7 cm 20.3 cm
Relative improvement 36% 43%

3D strip adjustment results
FLI-MAP σx σy σz
before adjustment 16.4 20.0 5.0
after adjustment 11.2 11.6 4.7
relative improvement 32% 42% 6%
Optech ALTM σx σy σz
before adjustment 48.6 40.5 11.6
after adjustment 26.0 24.5 8.5
relative improvement 47% 40% 27%

Conclusions strip adjustment
• Many errors may occur.
• Strip adjustment in combination with error models can eliminate most

systematic errors.
• Strip adjustment can be used for data correction or as a quality control

tool.
• Remaining systematic errors may reveal errors that are difficult to

model.
• New errors are still discovered.

Filtering of ALS data
Claus Brenner
Filtering – Introduction
• Digital elevation model (DEM), digital terrain model (DTM): “Ground”
• Digital surface model (DSM): “top surface”
• In open terrain, the separation surface between air and bare earth
• DEM is different from measured laser points due to very different reasons:
• Measurement errors of ALS system (position, orientation, range…)
• Interaction with target (mixed points in vegetation)
• Interpretation (buildings are not part of the DEM by definition)
• Filtering: classification of points into terrain and off-terrain
• Basis for DTM generation, detection of topographic objects
dy
TIN
dx Raster Claus Brenner
Filtering
Claus Brenner
Filtering
Claus Brenner
Filtering
Claus Brenner
Filtering
(Source: George Vosselman)
Claus Brenner
Filtering approaches
• Basic approaches
• Mathematic morphology
• Progressive refinement
• Linear prediction
• Segmentation
• Points / local neighbourhood vs. segments
Claus Brenner
Filtering of ALS data
• Introduction
• Morphologic operators and slope based filtering
(Vosselman, 2000)
• Linear prediction and hierarchic robust interpolation
(Kraus & Pfeifer 1998, Pfeifer et al. 2001)
• Progressive TIN densification (Axelsson, 2000)
• Segmentation based filtering
(Sithole, Vosselman 2005)
• ISPRS filter test
Claus Brenner
Morphologic operators
and
Slope based filtering
Claus Brenner
Erosion, dilation, opening, closing
• Erosion and dilation for binary images

• I… Image, s… two-dimensional structure element
• Erosion:
⎧ 1 if ∀(i, j ) ∈ s : I (r + i, c + j ) = 1
( I − s )(r , c) := ⎨
⎩ 0 else
• Dilation:
⎧ 1 if ∃(i, j ) ∈ s : I (r + i, c + j ) = 1
( I + s )(r , c) := ⎨
⎩ 0 else
• Opening:
I o s := ( I − s ) + s
• Closing:
I • s := ( I + s ) − s
Claus Brenner
Example: Opening (I)
– =
I s I-s
+ =
I-s s I o s := ( I − s ) + s
Claus Brenner
Example: Opening (II)
– =
I s I-s
+ =
I-s s I o s := ( I − s ) + s
Claus Brenner
Example: Opening (III)
– =
I s I-s
+ =
I-s s I o s := ( I − s ) + s
Claus Brenner
Equivalent definitions using min and max
• Erosion:
⎛ ⎧ 1 if ∀(i, j ) ∈ s : I (r + i, c + j ) = 1⎞
( I − s )(r , c) := min I (r + i, c + j ) ⎜ ( I − s )(r , c) := ⎨ ⎟
⎜ ⎟
( i , j )∈s
⎝ ⎩ 0 else ⎠
• Dilation:
( I + s )(r , c) := max I (r + i, c + j )
( i , j )∈s
• Define kernel function k

k(i)
⎧ 0 (i, j ) ∈ s
k (i, j ) := ⎨
⎩ − 1 else
i
• Then, erosion and dilation are given by:
( I − k )(r , c) := min[I (r + i, c + j ) − k (i, j )]

(i , j )
( I + k )(r , c) := max[I (r + i, c + j ) + k (i, j )]

(i , j )
Claus Brenner
Erosion using k(i,j)
I
r
k
( I − k )(r , c) := min[I (r + i, c + j ) − k (i, j )]
(i , j )
k(i)
I-k
Claus Brenner
Morphological operators for grey scale images (here, DSM)
DSM
Erosion
k(i)
i
Dilation
DTM
Opening
Claus Brenner
Original DSM
(opening)
11x11 m2 15x15 m2 21x21 m2 31x31 m 2

Claus Brenner
Original DSM
(opening)
11x11 m2 15x15 m2 21x21 m2 31x31 m 2

Claus Brenner
Original DSM DTM obtained by opening

Claus Brenner
Modification: dual rank filters
• Minimum / maximum may be problematic if outliers are present

• Use of rank filters is more robust
• Rank function: returns the mth element of sorted values
Rm ({I1 , I 2 ,..., I n }) := ( Sort ({I1 , I 2 ,..., I n }))[m]
• Then, erosion and dilation become
( I − m k )(r , c) := Rm ({I (r + i, c + j ) − k (i, j ) ∀(i, j )})

( I + m k )(r , c) := Rn +1− m ({I (r + i, c + j ) + k (i, j ) ∀(i, j )})
• Note: n = # zeros in k , −1 ≡ −, +1 ≡ +
−m
Claus Brenner
Modification: points, irregular data
• Erosion (previously):
e(r , c) = ( I − k )(r , c) = min (I (r + i, c + j ) − k (i, j ) )
pj
pi
(i , j )
• Now:
e( pi ) := min (h( p j ) − k (Δxij , Δyij ) )
p j ∈A
k (Δxij , Δyij )
• Definition of the DEM:
{
DEM := p j h( p j ) ≤ e( p j ) }
Claus Brenner
Slope based filtering (Vosselman, 2000)
e( pi ) := min (h( p j ) − k (Δxij , Δyij ) )

p j ∈A
k (Δxij , Δyij )
Δhmax (d )
• Interpretation of k
Δh1
k (Δx, Δy ) := − Δhmax ( Δx 2
)
+ Δy 2 = − Δhmax (d )
d1 d
Points at distance d1
can be lower by Δh1
Claus Brenner
Slope based kernel function

Δhmax (d )
{
DEM := p j h( p j ) ≤ e( p j ) }
• Kernel function effectively suppresses slopes larger than its own slope
Claus Brenner
Derivation of suitable kernel functions Δhmax
• Idea 1: assume a maximum slope, e.g. 30%
Δhmax (d ) := 0.3d
• Since measurements are noisy, add confidence interval. Allow 5% of terrain

points (with standard deviation σ) may be rejected
Δhmax (d )
Δhmax (d ) := 0.3d + 1.65 2σ
• Arbitrary specification Æ try to obtain from data
Claus Brenner
• Idea 2: derive maximum height differences from data

• Training set with ground points only
• For each distance interval d, compute max(Δh)
• Also compute variance (of the maximum) for each d using cumulative
probability distribution
Fmax (Δh) = F (Δh) N
• Idea 3: minimize classification errors 2

• Effect of type I and type II errors is the same
• Æ search for Δh where 3
1 2’
P( pi ∈ DEM Δh, d , p j ∈ DEM) = 0.5
• Requires training set with ground points and unfiltered data of (Source: George Vosselman)
the same area
Claus Brenner
5m
Δh
d P( pi ∈ DEM Δh, d , p j ∈ DEM)

0m
10 m Black 0.0, white 1.0
-5 m
Claus Brenner
4
Allowed height difference
Maximum
(m)
2
Probabilistic
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance between points (m)
Claus Brenner
Example results
Maximum filter. Height difference of ditches: 0.5 m.

2 m grid (top), 0.5 m grid (bottom).
Laser point density 5.6 points/m2.
Claus Brenner
Example results
Laser point density 5.6 points/m2 (top), reduced to 1 point/16m2 (bottom)

Perspective view.
Claus Brenner
Linear prediction
and
Hierarchic robust interpolation
Claus Brenner
Interpolation using a summation of kernel functions

z 2.5
1.5
1
(x1,z1) ?
0.5
(xn,zn)
1 2 3 4 5 x
-0.5
• Given: Heights z at positions x:

z = ( z1 z2 L zn )
T
x = ( x1 x2 L xn )
T
• Find an interpolating function:
Claus Brenner

• Idea: describe overall function as a sum of basis functions
n
f ( x ) = ∑ ki ( x)
i =1
• Simpler:
• as a sum of identical basis functions k
• depending only on the distance x-xi
• multiplied by a factor mi
n
f ( x) = ∑ mi ⋅ k ( x − xi )
i =1
1
k(d)
• Example k(d) 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
d
-2 -1 1 2
Claus Brenner

• Interpolation Æ f has to pass through the given points
! n
z j = f ( x j ) = ∑ mi ⋅ k ( x j − xi )
i =1
• Written in matrix form
⎛ z1 ⎞ ⎛ k (0) k ( x1 − x2 ) k ( x1 − xn ) ⎞ ⎛ m1 ⎞
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎜ z2 ⎟ ⎜ k ( x2 − x1 ) k (0) k ( x2 − xn ) ⎟ ⎜ m2 ⎟
⎜M⎟ = ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ M ⎟
O M
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎜z ⎟ ⎜ k(x − x ) k(x − x ) L k (0) ⎟⎠ ⎜m ⎟
⎝ n⎠ ⎝ n 1 n 2 ⎝ n⎠
• Or, shorter
z = Km
Claus Brenner
• Solution (note: linear; exact solution)
m = K −1z
• Function f ⎛ m1 ⎞
⎜ ⎟
n
⎜m ⎟
f ( x) = ∑ mi ⋅ k ( x − xi ) = (k ( x − x1 ) k ( x − x2 ) L k ( x − xn ) )⎜ 2 ⎟
M
i =1
⎜ ⎟
⎜m ⎟
⎝ n⎠
• Or, shorter
f ( x) = k T K −1z
• Note:
• x variable
• k depending on x
−1
• K z fixed
Claus Brenner
Example using triangular kernel function

2.5 2.5
2 2
1.5 1.5
1 1
0.5 0.5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
-0.5
-0.5
x = (1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 )
m = K −1z = (1, 2.25, − 0.5, 2.25, 0 )
z = (1, 2, 1.75, 2, 0 )
2.5
f (x) 2
1.5
1 1
k(d) 0.8
0.6 0.5
0.4
0.2 d 1 2 3 4 5
-2 -1 1 2
-0.5
Claus Brenner
Example using Gaussian kernel function

2.5 6
2 4
1.5 2
1
1 2 3 4 5
0.5 -2
-4
1 2 3 4 5
-0.5 -6
x = (1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 ) m = K −1z = (− 0.29, 5.07, − 6.49, 5.76, − 1.53)

z = (1, 2, 1.75, 2, 0 )
2.5
f (x)
2
1.5
k (d ) = e − d
2
1
0.8 1
0.6
0.4 0.5
0.2 d
-2 -1 1 2 1 2 3 4 5
-0.5
Claus Brenner
Statistical interpretation of Gaussian kernel function
• Interpretation as covariance of laser points Pi , Pk having distance d
2
⎛d⎞ C(0)
−⎜ ⎟
C ( Pi Pk ) := C (d ) = C (0) e ⎝c⎠ C(d)
• Statistical surface description: close points have high covariance

• Need to determine C(0), c
Claus Brenner
Determination of parameters of covariance function
• After removal of trend (see later), zi coordinates contain

• measurement error ri
• systematic error si
zi = si + ri
• Variance of zi :
Vzz =
1
∑ z z
i i =
1
(∑ si si + 2∑ si ri + ∑ ri ri )
n n
→
1
(∑ si si + ∑ ri ri ) = Vss + Vrr
n
Claus Brenner
Determination of parameters of covariance function
• Determination of empirical covariances Cj

• Sort point pairs into buckets, according to their distance
d j − Δd ≤ Pi Pk < d j + Δd
• In each bucket, determine empirical covariances
1 1
Cj =
nj
∑ zi z k →
nj
∑s si k
• Determine C(0)
C (0) = Vss = Vzz − Vrr = Vzz − σ Z2 (using estimate σ Z of height error)
• Determine cj for each bucket from

2
⎛dj ⎞
−⎜ ⎟
⎜ cj ⎟
C j = C ( 0) e ⎝ ⎠
⇒ solve for c j
• Determine c as weighted mean of cj
Claus Brenner
Interpolation and filtering

• After having determined Gaussian kernel function, interpolation is just as before:
f ( P ) = c T C −1z
(
c T = C ( PP1 ) C ( PP2 ) L C ( PPn ) ) z T = ( z1 z2 L zn )
⎛ C (0) C ( P1 P2 ) C ( P1 Pn ) ⎞
⎜ ⎟
⎜ C ( P2 P1 ) C (0) C ( P2 Pn ) ⎟
C = ⎜ ⎟
⎜ O M ⎟
⎜ C ( P P ) C ( P P ) L C (0) ⎟
⎝ n 1 n 2 ⎠
Vzz
• What happens if we replace C by
Vss = C (0)
⎛ Vzz C ( P1 P2 ) C ( P1 Pn ) ⎞
⎜ ⎟ C(d)
⎜ C ( P2 P1 ) Vzz C ( P2 Pn ) ⎟
C = ⎜ ⎟
⎜ O M ⎟ d
⎜ C(P P ) C(P P ) L Vzz ⎟⎠
⎝ n 1 n 2
Claus Brenner
Interpolation and filtering

• Note from earlier:
Vzz = Vss + Vrr = C (0) + σ Z2
⇒ C = C + σ z2 I n
2.5 using C 2.5

using C
2 2
1.5 1.5
1 1
0.5 0.5
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
-0.5 -0.5
• Interpolation and filtering: considers measurement errors

• Allows weighting of measurements using individual Vzz ,i
Claus Brenner
Hierarchic robust interpolation
• Kraus & Pfeifer 1998, Pfeifer et al. 2001

• Before application, remove trend surface, e.g. by estimation of a low-degree polynomial
• After trend removal, 3 stages of refinement:
• Interpolation + filtering
• as just explained
• Robust interpolation
• compute weights for individual points (see next slides)
• Hierarchic robust interpolation
• if gross errors occur in large clusters
• compute data pyramid, use surfaces obtained in coarse level to accept points
within tolerance band in higher resolution level
Claus Brenner
Robust interpolation
• Initial interpolation using unit weights σ i2 = σ 02

Outlier, probably vegetation
Interpolation follows
outlier
Result of interpolation +
filtering
(Source: I.P.F. TU Vienna)

Trend surface
Claus Brenner
• Calculate filter values = oriented distance from surface to measured point

• Compute histogram of filter values
• Usually, asymmetric: many points above surface, few points below surface
Claus Brenner
• Use asymmetric weight function (a,b different for left & right branch)
1 σ 02
pi = , σ = 2
1 + (a ⋅ f i − g )
b i
pi
• a, b parameters, g shift determined from histogram

• Also remove points which are too far off the surface
cutoff
(Source: I.P.F. TU Vienna) Claus Brenner

Initial
interpolation
Refined
interpolation
Claus Brenner
Filter results in forested area
(Source: I.P.F. TU Vienna) Claus Brenner

Progressive TIN densification
Claus Brenner
TIN densification (Axelsson, 2000)
• Start using sparse seed points

• lowest points in a large grid, based on largest structure, e.g. 50-100 m
• Densify iteratively from below
• calculate required thresholds from points currently included in the TIN
• add points to the TIN if they are within thresholds
• Threshold computation based on median values of surface normal angles and
elevation differences. Uses histograms for computation of median.
α β
Claus Brenner
TIN densification
• Add one point at a time in each triangle facet

• Accept based on distance and angle threshold
• Special case for discontinuous surfaces (urban areas)
• threshold values easily exceeded
• use mirroring of point at closest point in TIN triangle to compute deviation
d γ
d´
α d mirror
β
Claus Brenner
Segmentation based filtering
Note: the slides of this section were provided by George Sithole / George Vosselman
based on their talk “Filtering of airborne laser scanner data based on segmented point clouds”
given at the laser scanning workshop 2005 in Enschede
Claus Brenner
Filter design
Problem analysis
• Smooth surface assumption does not hold
• Lack of context information
– Filter as a local operator
– Point-wise filtering
New filter approach

• Use continuous surface instead of smooth surface
• Filter continuous segments of points instead of points
Slide provided by George Sithole, George Vosselman Claus Brenner

Segment based filtering
• Texture based image segmentation
• Point cloud segmentation into continuous surfaces

Profile segmentation
Delaunay
Delaunay Minimum
Minimum
Triangulation
Triangulation Spanning
Spanning Tree
Tree
Proximity
Proximity Remove
Remove
Thresholding
Thresholding Dangling
Dangling Edges
Edges

Profile classification
Raised
Raised
Lowered
Lowered
Terraced
Terraced
High
High
Low
Low

Combining profiles to segments

Combining profiles to segments

Segment classification
• Based on majority of
segment profile
classifications

Bridge detection
• Select all terrain profiles

• Analyse profile segment classifications

Results in urban area

Segment based
filtering
Type I error
Type II error
Alg. 1 Alg. 2 Alg. 3

Three other algorithms of the ISPRS filter test
Results in quarry
Segment based
filtering
Type I error
Type II error
Alg. 1 Alg. 2 Alg. 3

Quantitative results
Urban sites (error %)

Alg 1 Alg 2 Alg 3 New alg
Average 5.6 7.0 14.0 6.0
Median 4.3 6.7 12.2 4.3
Rural sites (error %)

Alg 1 Alg 2 Alg 3 New alg
Average 3.6 9.5 15.6 5.4
Median 2.9 7.9 17.2 6.2

Conclusions for segment based filtering
• Segment-based filtering
– preserves discontinuities
– allows filtering of large objects
– can be combined with other filtering methods
– could be extended with other attributes (shape, size,
colour)
• Segmentation in areas with low vegetation remains difficult
• Bridges can be recognised in bare earth segment
• Segmentation results may support manual editing

ISPRS filter test
Claus Brenner
ISPRS filter test
Comparison of filter algorithms, 2002-2004

• 8 sites, 8 participants
• Qualitative and quantitative evaluation
• All filters do well on smooth terrain with vegetation and buildings.

All filters have problems with rough terrain and complex city
landscapes.
• In general, filters that compare points to locally estimated surfaces
performed best.
• The problems caused by the scene complexities were larger than
those caused by the reduced point density.
• Research on segmentation, quality assessment and usage of
additional knowledge sources is recommended.
• Full report on http://www.geo.tudelft.nl/frs/isprs/filtertest/
Claus Brenner
Extraction and modelling

Claus Brenner
with contributions from George Vosselman and Juha Hyyppä
Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics

University of Hannover, Appelstr. 9a, 30167 Hannover, Germany
claus.brenner@ikg.uni-hannover.de
www.ikg.uni-hannover.de
Claus Brenner
Example laser scan data

100
80
60
40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
• Data obtained by aerial laser scanning

• Example: approx. one measurement per m2
• Regularized raster, mesh width 1m x 1m
Claus Brenner
Example laser scan data
Claus Brenner
Main applications
• Derivation of DEMs
• Forest inventory
• Extraction of man-made objects
• Flood modelling
• Mapping of linear structures: dikes, roads, power line
clearance
• Classification
Claus Brenner
Extraction and modelling
• Introduction
• Feature extraction
• Derivatives
• Local polynomial fit and curvature analysis
• Planar faces
• Region growing, scan line grouping, RANSAC, Hough transform
• More complex shapes Æ see terrestrial scanning
• Building extraction
• Examples (data driven, model driven, integration of existing knowledge)
• Future developments: constraints & generalization
Claus Brenner
Derivatives
f ( x) • DSM seen as a grayvalue

image
– derivatives can be
used to detect jumps
in the DSM
x – second derivatives
∂ may be used to detect
f ( x) discontinuities in
∂x
slope
• Derivative masks from
digital image processing
can be used
x
• Note: derivative has
metric interpretation
Claus Brenner
Derivatives: discrete operators

• Derivative operator based on difference quotient
df f ( x + Δx ) − f ( x )
( x) ≈
dx Δx
– mask: (−1 1)
– even mask length, linear phase
– noise: σ = 2 ⋅ σ f ≈ 1.4 ⋅ σ f
• Derivative operator based on average difference quotient
df 1 ⎛ f ( x ) − f ( x − Δ x ) f ( x + Δx ) − f ( x ) ⎞ f ( x + Δ x ) − f ( x − Δ x )
( x) ≈ ⎜ + ⎟=
dx 2⎝ Δx Δx ⎠ 2 Δx
– mask: 1 2 (−1 0 1) = 1 2 (1 1) ∗ (−1 1)

– odd mask length, zero phase
– noise: σ = 1 σ f ≈ 0.7 ⋅ σ f
2
Claus Brenner
Derivatives
1
⎛⎛ ∂ ⎞ ⎛ ∂
2
⎞ ⎞
2 2
Original DSM f ( x, y ) ⎜⎜
⎜ ⎝ ∂x
f ( x, y ) ⎟ + ⎜ f ( x, y ) ⎟ ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ∂y ⎠ ⎟⎠
Claus Brenner
Derivatives
1
⎛⎛ ∂ ⎞ ⎛ ∂
2
⎞ ⎞
2 2
Original DSM f ( x, y ) ⎜⎜
⎜ ⎝ ∂x
f ( x, y ) ⎟ + ⎜ f ( x, y ) ⎟ ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ∂y ⎠ ⎟⎠
Claus Brenner
Morphological operations: opening
300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Original DSM DSM – DTM

Claus Brenner
Morphological operations: opening
DSM – DTM Orthophoto

Height > 5 m and footprint > 50 m2
Height > 5 m Claus Brenner
Local estimation of polynomial functions

• Derivatives (especially second derivatives) are sensitive to noise
• Standard smoothing masks are not motivated geometrically
• Idea:
– for each discrete point, determine locally a best approximating polynomial
function fˆ (u )
– then, derivatives f ′( x) and f ′′( x) can be obtained from the derivatives
of fˆ ′(u ) and fˆ ′′(u )
N f (1)
fˆ (u )
u
−M K 0 1K M
U = {− M , − M + 1,K 0,1,K , M } Claus Brenner

• Scalar product
f , g := ∑ f (u ) ⋅ g (u )
u∈U
• Polynomial base functions up to second order

ϕ 0 (u ) := 1
ϕ1 (u ) := u
M ( M + 1)
ϕ 2 (u ) := u 2 −
3
• Properties of base functions (orthogonality)
ϕ i , ϕ j = 0 ∀i ≠ j
ϕ 0 , ϕ 0 = 2 M + 1 =: p0
ϕ1 , ϕ1 = 1 3 ⋅ M ( M + 1)(2M + 1) =: p1
ϕ 2 , ϕ 2 = K =: p2
Claus Brenner

• Definition of normalized base functions
bi :=
ϕi ⇒ ϕ i , b j = δ ij (Kronecker)
pi
• Second order approximation for functions of one variable

2
fˆ (u ) = ∑ ai ⋅ ϕ i (u ) with
i =0
ai := f , bi = ∑ f (u ) ⋅ bi (u ) Å trick: no need to invert since functions

u∈U are orthogonal
• Second order approximation for functions in two variables
fˆ (u , v) = ∑a
i + j ≤2
ij ⋅ ϕ i (u ) ϕ j (v) with
aij := ∑ f (u , v) ⋅ bi (u ) b j (v)
( u , v )∈U 2
Claus Brenner

• Derivatives:
fˆ (u, v) = a00
+ a10u + a01v
⎛ M ( M + 1) ⎞ ⎛ 2 M ( M + 1) ⎞
+ a20 ⎜ u 2 − +
⎟ 11a uv + a02 ⎜ v − ⎟
⎝ 3 ⎠ ⎝ 3 ⎠
∂ ∂ ˆ
fˆ (u , v) = a10 + a20 ⋅ 2u + a11 ⋅ v f (0, 0) = a10
∂u ∂u
∂ ∂ ˆ
fˆ (u, v) = a01 + a02 ⋅ 2v + a11 ⋅ u f (0, 0) = a01
∂v ∂v
∂2 ˆ
f (u, v) = 2a20
∂u 2
∂2 ˆ
f (u , v) = a11
∂u ∂v
∂2 ˆ
f (u , v) = 2a02
∂v 2
Claus Brenner

• Example:
M = 3 ⇒ U = {−3,K ,3} , p0 = 7, p1 = 28, p2 = 84
3
1
a0 = f , b0 = ∑
u =−3
f (u ) ⋅
7
⋅1
3
1
a1 = f , b1 = ∑ f (u ) ⋅ u
u =−3 28
(u − 4)
3
1 2
a2 = f , b2 = ∑
u =−3
f (u ) ⋅
84
• From this, the following convolution masks are obtained:

1
d0 = (1 1 1 1 1 1 1)
7
1
d1 = ( − 3 − 2 − 1 0 1 2 3 )
28
1
d2 = ( 5 0 − 3 − 4 − 3 0 5 )
84
Claus Brenner

• Two-dimensional convolution masks are obtained as follows:
Du = d 0T d1 Duu = 2d 0T d 2
Dv = d1T d 0 Dvv = 2d 2T d 0
Duv = d1T d1
• E.g. the second partial derivative with respect to u:
⎡5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎤
⎢5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎥⎥
⎢
⎢5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎥
∂ 2
2 ⎢ ⎥
f ≈ D * f , D = 2 d T
d = ⎢ 5 0 −3 − 4 − 3 0 5 ⎥
∂u 7 ⋅ 84
2 uu uu 0 2
⎢5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎥
⎢5 0 −3 −4 −3 0 5⎥⎦
⎣
Claus Brenner
Differential geometry
x
v U
p
q
ℜ2 ℜ3
u
• Regular parametrized surface: • Normal vector

x : ℜ 2 ⊃ U → ℜ3 xu × xv
N (q) = (q)
U open, x differentiable, dxq injective xu × xv
Claus Brenner
• First fundamental form in local coordinates
I = E ⋅ (u ′) 2 + 2 F ⋅ u ′v′ + G ⋅ (v′) 2
E = xu , xu , F = xu , xv , G = xv , xv
• Second fundamental form in local coordinates
II = e ⋅ (u ′) 2 + 2 f ⋅ u ′v′ + g ⋅ (v′) 2 xu × xv
N (q) = (q)
e = N , xuu , f = N , xuv , g = N , xvv xu × xv
• Gaussian curvature and mean curvature

eg − f 2
K = κ1 ⋅κ 2 =
EG − F 2
1 eG − 2 fF + gE
H = (κ 1 + κ 2 ) =
2 EG − F 2
κ 1 , κ 2 main curvatures
Claus Brenner
• DSM is given as a graph z = f(u,v)
– From this, the following simplifications are obtained:
z = f (u , v)
⎡ u ⎤ ⎡1⎤ ⎡0⎤
x(u , v) = ⎢⎢ v ⎥⎥ , xu = ⎢⎢ 0 ⎥⎥ , xv = ⎢⎢ 1 ⎥⎥
⎢⎣ f (u , v) ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ fu ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ f v ⎥⎦
E = xu , xu = 1 + f u2 etc.
⎡ − fu ⎤
N= 2
1 ⎢− f ⎥
( fu + f v2 + 1)1 2 ⎢
v⎥
⎢⎣ 1 ⎥⎦
f
e = N , xuu = 2 uu2 etc.
( fu + f v + 1)1 2
⇒ K, H
Claus Brenner
Surface types
• Surfaces can be classified depending on the sign of K and H

– Both signs can be coded into a single number (KH sign map)
khs := 3 ⋅ (1 + sgn H ) + 1 + sgn K
– In practice, H=0 or K=0 will not be obtained, thus the following

modified sign function is used:
sgn ε ( x)
⎧ −1 x < −ε
⎪
sgn ε ( x) := ⎨ 0 −ε ≤ x ≤ ε
x
⎪ 1 x >ε
⎩ −ε ε
Claus Brenner
Surface types
khs K<0 K=0 K>0
H<0
0 1 2
Not
H=0
possible
3 4
H>0
6 7 8
Claus Brenner
Application: curvature type classification
Type 0–3
Simple discrete derivative operators
Type 6–8 Claus Brenner
Application: curvature type classification
Type 0–3
Local estimation of polynomial functions Type 6–8 Claus Brenner
Region based segmentation

• Region based segmentation:
– partitioning of a region into disjoint subregions
– subregions evaluate „true“ with respect to a given predicate P (⋅)
– subregions are maximal
• More precisely:
n
1. UR i =R
i =1
2. ∀1 ≤ i ≤ n : Ri is connected
3. ∀i ≠ j : Ri ∩ R j = ∅
4. P ( Ri ) = true
5. ∀i ≠ j : P ( Ri ∪ R j ) = false, if Ri , R j are neighbors
Claus Brenner
Region based segmentation
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
R1 = {1, 2,3, 4, 7,8,12}
5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8
R2 = {5, 6,10,11,15,16}
9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16 R3 = {9,13,14}
• How can the desired subregions be obtained? E.g.:

– cluster analysis
– split-and-merge
– region growing
Claus Brenner
Region growing
Start
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8
Search for
seed region 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16
N
Found? End
Y 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8
Grow region as
long as possible 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16
Claus Brenner
Region growing
• Predicates for digital surface models

– distance of points from an estimated plane
P : z = ax + by + c
distance: d (i ) = axi + byi + c − zi
– normal vector orientation

cos α = N i , ( − a, −b,1)
T
• Disadvantages:
– the order of selection of seed regions affects the result
– iterative estimation of plane equation is time consuming
• Application: detection of planar regions in DSM, e.g. roof faces
Claus Brenner
Region growing: examples
Claus Brenner
Scanline grouping (Jiang & Bunke, 1992)
• Subdivide each line into segments (e.g. using Douglas-

Peucker)
• Build seed region using consecutive segments
• Grow seed region by adding segments
• Postprocess
y0+2
y0+1
y0
Claus Brenner

Peucker)
• Postprocess
y0+2
y0+1
y0
Claus Brenner

Peucker)
• Postprocess
y0+3
y0+2
y0+1
y0
Claus Brenner

Peucker)
• Postprocess
y0+3
y0+2
y0+1
y0
Claus Brenner
Scanline grouping segmentation: examples
DSM (Stuttgart, 1m) Segmentation
Claus Brenner
Scanline grouping segmentation: examples
DSM (Stuttgart, 1m) Segmentation
Claus Brenner
RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus, Fischler & Bolles 1981)
• Algorithm:
– Select minimum number of observations randomly (e.g. 3 points
for a plane, 2 points for a line) = random sample
– Compute parameters based on these observations
– Find out the number N of compatible observations = consensus
– Select solution which has largest N
• There is a formula for minimum number of draws required

• Very powerful algorithm, easy to implement
Claus Brenner
RANSAC example: find linear segments

z
z ε
ε
Claus Brenner
RANSAC example: find linear segments

z
ε
x ε
Claus Brenner
RANSAC for planar segmentation
etc.
Claus Brenner
Examples: region growing, RANSAC
Region growing RANSAC
Claus Brenner
Examples: region growing, RANSAC
RANSAC
Region growing
Claus Brenner
Hough transform (PVC Hough, 1962)

6
c one specific line
y N ⎛ cos α ⎞
N = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
4
α ⎝ sin α ⎠ 2
α
(x0,y0) x cos α + y sin α + c = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-2
c = −( x0 cos α + y0 sin α ) = c(α ) -4
x Hough space
-6
6
high count
y 4
1 2 3 4 5 6
-2
-4
x
-6
accumulator
Claus Brenner
Hough transform
• Can be used for any parameterized object: planes, cylinders,…

• Higher dimensions may become impractical (space, time)
• Sometimes sequential Hough transforms of lower dimension are feasible
• Global 3D Hough transform may be problematic
(source: George Vosselman)

Claus Brenner
Building Reconstruction
Claus Brenner
Claus Brenner
Claus Brenner
(Source: Sony press release)
Claus Brenner
Non photorealistic rendering (NPR)
Source: Prof. Döllner, Computer Graphics Systems, Hasso-Plattner Institute, Potsdam

Claus Brenner
Augmented reality car navigation
Source: press release, Siemens AG, 30.09.2005 Claus Brenner

Engravings by Merian
Matthäus Merian d. Ä., 1593-1650

Martin Zeiller „Topographia“, 1642ff., 30 Bd., 100 maps, 2150 views
Claus Brenner
Partial tasks for building reconstruction

Raw data Result
„building reconstruction“
Geometric Semantic
Detection Structuring Reconstruction Attributation
Gebäude
Gebäude{ {
ID ID==541541
Nutzungsart ==Gewerblich
Gebäude
Gebäude {Nutzungsart
{
Gewerblich
Stockwerke
Stockwerke==55
ID = 541
ID = 541 Stellplätze
Stellplätze ==22
Nutzungsart = Gewerblich
Gebäude
{
= Gewerblich
Fassadenmaterial
Fassadenmaterial =={ {
Stockwerke
Stockwerke = 55
ID F1 = =KH315
ID==541 541
Stellplätze F1===22KH315
Stellplätze F2
Nutzungsart
Nutzungsart
Fassadenmaterial F2==KH221
==Gewerblich KH221
Gewerblich =={ {
Stockwerke Fassadenmaterial
F3 = KH315
= 55F3 = KH315
Stockwerke F1 = =KH315
F1===22KH315
F4
Stellplätze
Stellplätze F2 F4==EF951
EF951
Fassadenmaterial F2=}=KH221
KH221 =={ {
Fassadenmaterial
F3 }
F3=Öffentlich
=KH315
KH315
F1 = KH315
F1 = KH315F4 Öffentlich=={ {
F2 = KH221F4==EF951EF951
{ {Artztpraxis, Link @3398472 }
F2 }= KH221 Artztpraxis, Link @3398472 }
} { Restaurant, Link
F3F3=Öffentlich
=KH315
KH315 {=Restaurant, Link@0274832
@0274832} }
F4 Öffentlich
}} ={ {
F4==EF951EF951
{ {Artztpraxis, Link
}} } Artztpraxis, Link @3398472} }
@3398472
}
{ {Restaurant, Link @0274832 }
Öffentlich =Restaurant,
Gebäude
={ {
{ { Link @0274832 }
} } Gebäude
Öffentlich
{ {Artztpraxis, ID ID=Link
542
542@3398472
} Artztpraxis, =Link @3398472} }
}
{ {Restaurant, Nutzungsart
Link =
@0274832Wohn }
Restaurant,
Link @0274832= Wohn }
} } Gebäude {
Stockwerke
Stockwerke==22
ID ID==542 542
}} Stellplätze
Stellplätze ==00
Nutzungsart ==Wohn
Gebäude
{
}} Wohn
Stockwerke
Stockwerke==22
IDID==542 542
Stellplätze
Stellplätze ==00
Nutzungsart
Nutzungsart ==Wohn
Wohn
}}
Stockwerke
Stockwerke==22
Stellplätze
Stellplätze==00
}}
Claus Brenner
Geometric building models
Building Model
Parametric General
Primitive Combined Prismatic Polyhedral Ruled Freeform
Claus Brenner
Boundary representation vs. CSG
Topology –
hard
easy
Boundary representation (BREP) Constructive solid geometry (CSG) Claus Brenner

Data driven reconstruction
Object contains
straight edges Object contains
rectangles
Object is red
Original image
Object has
minimum size
Edge extraction
Grouping into
rectangles
Filtering using
spectral
signature Filtering using size,
grouping
Claus Brenner
Model driven reconstruction
Model database
Explicit
Original
models
image
Claus Brenner
Example: data driven
Claus Brenner
Data driven approach

Assumptions:
• Roof described by planar faces
• Height jump edges parallel or perpendicular to main building
orientation
Steps:
• Plane detection
• Initial face outlining in TIN
• Reconstruction of building outline
• Reconstruction of roof face edges

Initial roof faces

Connected components
Height data
Rough face outlines

Reconstruction of roof outline
Union of faces
Approximation by straight lines

• main building direction
• minimum edge size
• most points
inside
building

Reconstruction of face edges
• Ridges and valleys

Intersection of planes of adjacent roof faces
• Roof outline
Intersection of planes with adjacent walls
• Height jumps inside roof surface
Straight lines aligned to main building directions

Reconstruction of 3D building
• Merging edges to faces

– Joining parallel edges
– Intersection of other edges
• Extraction of terrain height

Example: model driven
Claus Brenner
Demo: “ATOP”
Can be downloaded from: http://www.ikg.uni-hannover.de/3d-citymodels Claus Brenner

Integration of existing knowledge:

Using existing 2D ground plans
Claus Brenner
Using existing 2D ground plans
• Solves detection problem

• Helps with structuring
– Helps to select model in model driven approach
– (How?)
• Helps with geometric reconstruction
– Boundaries, orientations…
• Problems:
– Inaccurate maps
– Outdated maps
– Reconstruction of structures for which no hint appears in the ground plan
Claus Brenner
Idea 1: Canonical reconstruction of

roof based on ground plan
Claus Brenner
Roof construction
split event
Medial axis Straight skeleton edge event

(canonical roof)
Claus Brenner
Reconstruction based on canonical roof

• Build roof from straight skeleton, assuming equal slopes
• Project into plane (= hypothesise)
• Test for evidence using DSM (= test)
• Set planes for with no evidence Æ upright
• Build skeleton again, using new slopes
• Fit to DSM
• Æ strong dependency on ground plan, limited roof shapes
• 1997 …
Claus Brenner
Different roofs raised on the same ground plan & same planes
(canonical roof)
Claus Brenner
Idea 2: Subdivide ground plan into

primitives
Claus Brenner
Subdivision into primitives
π3 π3
π3
π0 π0 π4 π2 π4 π2 π4 π2 π4 π2
π1 π1 π1
Flat Desk Ridge Hipped
Ground plan subdivision, selection of 3D-primitive,

parameter estimation
Æ more complex roofs, but still strong dependency on ground plan
Claus Brenner
Example results
Claus Brenner
Idea 3: Subdivide ground plan at

concave vertices (Vosselman)
Claus Brenner
Decomposition of ground plans
Ground plan
Decompositions
Building
primitives on partitions

Combining maps with laser data
Processing steps:
• Detection of planar faces
• Ground plan refinement • Initial 3D model

• Roof face reconstruction • (Model refinement)

Detection of planar faces
• 3D Hough transform in each ground plan segment

• Growing and merging of initial planar faces

Refinement of ground plan segmentation
• One plane per segment

• Detection of intersection lines
• Detection of height jump lines
– Constrained to segment orientation
– Not near segment edge

Reconstruction of roof face outlines
• Best fitting plane per segment

• Merging of segments of same plane

Analysis
• Starts from ground plan

• Ability to subdivide segments by planar segmentation (3D
Hough transform)
• Ability to merge segments of the same plane
• Æ less dependency on ground plan, stronger role of DSM
Claus Brenner
Idea 4: Relate planar patches to

ground plan using a grammar
Claus Brenner
Determination of relevant regions
• What criteria can be used?

– General criteria (Size, shape)
– Hints from ground plan
Claus Brenner
Labelling of regions
Ground plan
c l r
c – compatible
l – left
r – right n
p
p – previous
n – next
a – opp. previous
b – opp. next
a b
Claus Brenner
Example for labels
{ r,n,a } { l,p,b }
{c}
{c}
{ l,p,b }
{c}
{ r,n,a }
{c}
{c}
{ l,p,b } { r,n,a } {c}
Claus Brenner
Acceptance rules
Contained pattern Accepted pattern
<p+a+c+ <p+a+
c+b+n+> b+n+>
<p+ * n+> <p+ and n+>
l+r+ l+r+
All remaining c+ are accepted

Claus Brenner
Example
Aerial image All regions of Accepted Roof built from

segmentation regions accepted regions
Claus Brenner
EuroSDR test on building

extraction
Claus Brenner
Test Sites
Senaatti
• Senaatti
• Hermanni
• Espoonlahti
• Amiens
Espoonlahti Hermanni Claus Brenner

Hermanni, CyberCity Stuttgart IGN
position accuracy 2m
0m
point deviations in plane Æ
-2 m
IQR’s of point deviations ICC laser+aerial Nebel+Partner C+B Technik
0.9
0.8 IQR Height

0.7 IQR North
IQR East
0.6 ICC laser Aalborg FOI outlines
1 out
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
Delft Dresden FOI

0.1
0
1 out
N
I
r
ft
es
k
er
i ty
FO
g
t
en
se
ri a
ar
el
ni
IG
or
tn
li n
C
ch
D
tg
sd
la
ae
lb
ar
er
ut
ut
Te
re
C
Aa
r+
+P
yb
Io
St
IC
D
se
C
+B
el
FO
la
eb
C
C
N
IC
Aerial images, low autom.... Laser data, high autom.

(Slide provided by Juha Hyyppä) Claus Brenner
Some Conclusions
• Cybercity can be considered as a reference to others in terms of

quality and detailness
• Fully automatic laser scanning gives 4 times higher errors than
CC, but time spent is 5%, depends on pulse density, building size.
• Errors of laser-based results can be explained by non accurate
determination of building outlines
– Laser good at height and roof inclination determination
– Aerial images good at building outline determination
– Integration of laser and aerial imagery optimal, techniques
relative simple at this moment
– Some more complex laser models extremely good in quality
– Laser pulse density major factor to explain differences
between test sites (within laser based models)
• Level of automation is a key factor to explain the difference of
results.
Slide provided by Juha Hyyppä Claus Brenner
Future developments
Claus Brenner
Reconstruction Aspects
• Topological correctness
– Faces are correctly joined, no holes
• Geometric constraints
– Parallelism, rectangularity, surfaces having same
slope, surfaces meeting in one point, …
• Generalization
– Acquisition generalization: which objects / object parts
are to be modeled
– LoD generalization: derive another model from a given
one
Claus Brenner
Geometric Constraints
• CSG • B-rep:
– Primitives are constrained – Constraints have to be
implicitly added explicitly
– No implicit constraints
across primitives
– Sometimes: "snap"
α α α β
α α β β
Claus Brenner
Example constraint equations (2D)
ax + by + c = 0 d
( x1 − x 2 ) 2 + ( y1 − y 2 ) 2 − d 2 = 0
a2 + b2 −1 = 0
d
ax + by + c = 0 ax + by + c = d
r
a1a2 + b1b2 = 0 ( x − x0 ) 2 + ( y − y 0 ) 2 − r 2 = 0
a1a2 + b1b2 − cos α = 0

a1b2 − a 2 b1 = 0 α
a1b2 − a2b1 − sin α = 0
Logic Metric Claus Brenner

Weak primitives
Fields External
constraint
equations
a
(xc,yc) Internal Points
h Constraint
w Equations Lines
Internal Two lines
representation perpendicular
(x2,y2)
(x3,y3)
Internal Points
(x1,y1)
Constraint Point on
(x0,y0) Equations Lines line
Internal
representation
Claus Brenner
Weak primitives demonstrator

Containers
• Form hierarchy
– Objects are primitives Æ they contain geometry or
– Objects are containers Æ they contain other containers or primitives
• Implement layout functionality
– Linear, grid, irregular
• New: induced by formal grammar Container: Grid layout
Claus Brenner
Generalization
• CSG • B-rep:
– Implicit generalization – Region sizes?
– Rules?
Æ Generalization during capture
Claus Brenner
Level of Detail (Definition according to Sig3D)
LoD 0 LoD 1 LoD 2 LoD 3 LoD 4
Regional City / Site City / Site City / Site Interior
No roofs Flat roofs Roof type & “Real” roof “Real” roof
orientation shape shape
Texture, Block Textured model, Architectural model, Walkable

ortho photo, model differentiated roofs, vegetation, architectural
land use vegetation (trees) street furniture models
>5m / >5m 5m / 5m 2m / 1m 0,5m / 0,5m 0,2m / 0,2m

Pos./Height
See http://www.citygml.org/ Claus Brenner
In 2D: elementary generalization operations
s n +1
s n -1
sn
s n +2
s n -2
P 5
⎯⎯→
gi P 3
Monika Sester, ikg
Claus Brenner
Elementary generalization operations
P ≡ P n ≡ P i0 ⎯⎯→
g0
P i1
⎯⎯→
g1
... ⎯ ⎯⎯
g k −1
→ P ik
≡ P m
or ∅
• Generalization chain
– Maximum representation: P n ≡ P
– Minimum representation: P m m≤n
– Number of polygon edges: i0 = n … ik = m
– Elementary generalization operations: g j

Claus Brenner
Elementary generalization operations
P ≡ P ⎯⎯
m
⎯→ P
g −1
ik i k −1
⎯⎯
g
⎯
−1 → ... ⎯ ⎯→
g −1 P ≡ P n i0
k −1 k −2 0
or ∅
• Inverse generalization chain

– Pre-computed
– Can be used for progressive transmission
– Each g −j 1 is associated with a parameter ε j
– Parameters ε j are decreasing (inverse chain)
Claus Brenner
Continuous generalization demo

Generalization in 3D?
Original Cut Fill Final step
Frank Thiemann, ikg
Claus Brenner
Generalization by incremental modelling
Claus Brenner
Generalization by incremental modelling
Claus Brenner
Conclusions
• Methods available for the extraction of discontinuity and continuity

• Availability of 3D information makes relatively simple extraction
processes possible
• Laser scanning good at heights and roof inclination
• Still no fully automatic extraction systems available
– Problem: reliability
– Integration of ground plan information
– Automation will come in the form of small enhancements
• New challenges
– Interoperability requires rich descriptions
– Expression of relations (constraints) between objects
– Automatic generalization
Claus Brenner
Literature
• Wehr, A., Lohr, U. (1999): Airborne laser scanning – an introduction and overview. ISPRSJ, Vol. 54, 68-82.
• Baltsavias, E. P. (1999a): Airborne laser scanning: basic relations and formulas. ISPRSJ, Vol. 54, 199-214.
• Baltsavias, E. P. (1999b): Airborne laser scanning: existing systems and firms and other resources. ISPRSJ, Vol.
54, 164-198.
• Hug, C., Ullrich, A., Grimm, A. (2004): Litemapper-5600 – A waveform-Digitizing LIDAR Terrain and Vegetation
Mapping System, Proc. ISPRS WG VIII/2, Freiburg, Germany, Oct. 3-6, 2004. IAPRS Vol. XXXVI, Part 8/W2.
• Vosselman, G. (2000): Slope based filtering of laser altimetry data, IAPRS Vol. 33 Part B3, 935-942.
• Kraus K., Pfeifer, N. (1998): Determination of terrain models in wooded areas with airborne laser scanner data.
ISPRS JPRS Vol. 53, 193-203.
• Pfeiffer, N., Stadler, P., Briese, Chr. (2001): Derivation of digital terrain models in the SCOP++ environment, Proc.
OEEPE Workshop on Airborne Laserscanning and Interferometric SAR for Digital Elevation Models, Stockholm,
March 1-3.
• Axelsson, P. (2000): DEM generation from laser scanner data using adaptive TIN models, IAPRS Vol. 33 Part B4,
110-117.
• Sithole, G., Vosselman, G. (2005): Filtering of airborne laser scanner data based on segmented point clouds. Proc.
ISPRS Workshop Laser scanning 2005, Enschede, IAPRS Vol. 36 Part 3/W19, 66-71.
Claus Brenner
Cited web material
• Riegl LMS (2005): LMS-Q560 Airborne laser scanner for full waveform analysis. Preliminary data sheet,
23.09.2005. www.riegl.co.at.
• Optech (2006): ALTM 3100EA brochure. www.optech.ca/prodaltm.htm.
• Riegl LMS (2006):
http://www.riegl.co.at/airborne_scannerss/airborne_scanners_literature_/downloads/advantages_of_echo_digitizati
on_and_full_waveform_analysis.pdf. Last accessed 22.03.06.
For manufacturer (and other) link lists, see http://www.commission3.isprs.org/wg3/
Claus Brenner

Aerial Laser Scanning

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Aerial Laser Scanning

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Commission VI Special Interest Group “Technology Transfer Caravan”

Aerial Laser Scanning

Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics

• Airborne laser scanning principles

Airborne laser scanning

Basic components of an ALS system

• Semiconductor lasers or Nd:YAG lasers pumped by semiconductor lasers

• Pulsed (time of flight ranging) or continuous wave (CW, sidetone ranging)

Pulsed laser operation Laser

Continuous laser operation Laser

Ambiguities (pulse) Laser

Ambiguities (CW) Laser

• Maximum unambiguous range determined by λlong :

Scanning mechanisms & ground patterns Deflection

Oscillating Rotating Nutating mirror Fiber

Z-shaped, Parallel “Elliptical” Parallel

Polygon mirror example Deflection

500 pulses / line

Fiber switch details Deflection

Fiber scanner example Deflection

Swath width Fiber 1

Palmer scan Deflection

7 deg. nutating 30 deg. nutating Scan pattern with forward

• Laser beam widens with distance

3 - Power reflected, assuming • Atmospheric transmission

White masonry 85% 120

Range factor [%] *

Carbonate sand (wet) 41% 40

Interaction with target

Interaction with target

Detection accuracy ≈ 10-15% t

Interaction with target

Large area, Small area,

• Minimum detectable object size depends on reflectivity

Interaction with target

Canopy penetration gets worse Specular reflection

Ranging: Pulse vs. CW Ranging

• In CW ranging, resolution and accuracy can be improved by using higher modulation

• For the accuracy, S/N is important

• Pulse lasers with high power are available

Ranging: full waveform analysis Ranging

Ranging: full waveform analysis Ranging

Source: Riegl, 2006

Ranging: full waveform analysis Ranging

• “Unlimited” number of returns per shot

• Others: FLI-MAP (Fugro-Inpark), LiteMapper (IGI mbH), GeoMapper 3D

Optech ALTM 3100

All images taken from www.optech.ca Claus Brenner

Riegl LMS-Q560 / LMS-Q280i

(Scanner & data recorder only)

Images taken from www.riegl.co.at Claus Brenner

(uses scanners from Riegl)

Falcon II, III (fiber)

Harrier (uses scanners from Riegl)

All images taken from www.flimap.com Claus Brenner

Errors and strip adjustment

Errors and strip adjustment

Inertial reference frame Aircraft/ scanner

• Laser measurement (range, angle: electronics aging & drift)

• Basic geometric configuration

Error budget (geometry)

due Error budget (geometry)

Error budget: conclusions