Comparison of forest attributes derived from two terrestrial lidar systems.

Abstract Terrestrial lidar (TLS) is an emerging technology for deriving forest attributes, including conventional inventory and canopy characterizations. However, little is known about the influence of scanner specifications on derived forest parameters. We compared two TLS systems at two sites in British Columbia. Common scanning benchmarks and identical algorithms were used to obtain estimates of tree diameter, position, and canopy characteristics. Visualization of range images and point clouds showed clear differences, even though both scanners were relatively high-resolution instruments. These translated into quantifiable differences in impulse penetration, characterization of stems and crowns far from the scan location, and gap fraction. Differences between scanners in estimates of effective plant area index were greater than differences between sites. Both scanners provided a detailed digital model of forest structure, and gross structural characterizations (including crown dimensions and position) were relatively robust; but comparison of canopy density metrics may require consideration of scanner attributes

Automated Structural-level Alignment of Multi-view TLS and ALS Point Clouds in Forestry

Access to highly detailed models of heterogeneous forests from the near surface to above the tree canopy at varying scales is of increasing demand as it enables more advanced computational tools for analysis, planning, and ecosystem management. LiDAR sensors available through different scanning platforms including terrestrial, mobile and aerial have become established as one of the primary technologies for forest mapping due to their inherited capability to collect direct, precise and rapid 3D information of a scene. However, their scalability to large forest areas is highly dependent upon use of effective and efficient methods of co-registration of multiple scan sources. Surprisingly, work in forestry in GPS denied areas has mostly resorted to methods of co-registration that use reference based targets (e.g., reflective, marked trees), a process far from scalable in practice. In this work, we propose an effective, targetless and fully automatic method based on an incremental co-registration strategy matching and grouping points according to levels of structural complexity. Empirical evidence shows the method's effectiveness in aligning both TLS-to-TLS and TLS-to-ALS scans under a variety of ecosystem conditions including pre/post fire treatment effects, of interest to forest inventory surveyors

Registration And Feature Extraction From Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds For Aerospace Manufacturing

Aircraft wing manufacture is becoming increasingly digitalised. For example, it is becoming possible to produce on-line digital representations of individual structural elements, components and tools as they are deployed during assembly processes. When it comes to monitoring a manufacturing environment, imaging systems can be used to track objects as they move about the workspace, comparing actual positions, alignments, and spatial relationships with the digital representation of the manufacturing process. Active imaging systems such as laser scanners and laser trackers can capture measurements within the manufacturing environment, which can be used to deduce information about both the overall stage of manufacture and progress of individual tasks. This paper is concerned with the in-line extraction of spatial information such as the location and orientation of drilling templates which are used with hand drilling tools to ensure drilled holes are accurately located. In this work, a construction grade terrestrial laser scanner, the Leica RTC360, is used to capture an example aircraft wing section in mid-assembly from several scan locations. Point cloud registration uses 1.5"white matte spherical targets that are interchangeable with the SMR targets used by the Leica AT960 MR laser tracker, ensuring that scans are connected to an established metrology control network used to define the coordinate space. Point cloud registration was achieved to sub-millimetre accuracy when compared to the laser tracker network. The location of drilling templates on the surface of the wing skin are automatically extracted from the captured and registered point clouds. When compared to laser tracker referenced hole centres, laser scanner drilling template holes agree to within 0.2mm

Reconstrucción digital de estructuras de tejados históricos: desarrollo de un flujo de trabajo de análisis altamente automatizado

[EN] Planning on adaptive reuse, maintenance and restoration of historic timber structuresrequiresextensive architectural and structural analysis of the actual condition. Current methods for a modellingof roof constructions consist of several manual steps including the time-consuming dimensional modelling. The continuous development of terrestrial laser scanners increases the accuracy, comfort and speed of the surveying work inroof constructions. Resultingpoint clouds enabledetailed visualisation of theconstructionsrepresented by single points or polygonal meshes, but in fact donot containinformation about the structural system and the beam elements. The developed workflow containsseveral processing steps on the point cloud dataset. The most important among them arethenormal vector computation, the segmentation of points to extract planarfaces, a classification of planarsegmentsto detect the beam side facesand finally theparametric modelling of the beams on the basis of classified segments. Thisenablesa highly automated transitionfrom raw point cloud data to a geometric model containing beams of the structural system. The geometric model,as well as additional information about the structural properties of involved wooden beams and their joints,is necessaryinput for a furtherstructural modellingof timber constructions. The results of the workflow confirm that the proposed methods work well for beams with a rectangularcross-section and minor deformations. Scan shadows and occlusionof beamsby additional installationsor interlockingbeamsdecreases the modelling performance, but in generala high level ofaccuracy and completeness isachieved ata high degree of automation.[ES] Las estructuras históricas de madera requieren un análisis arquitectónico y estructural exhaustivo de su condición real en aras de planificar la reutilización flexible, el mantenimiento y la restauración. Los métodos actuales que modelan las construcciones de cubiertas pasan por aplicar varias etapas en modo manual, que incluye el lento modelado dimensional. El desarrollo continuo de escáneres láser terrestres aumenta la exactitud, la comodidad y la velocidad del trabajo topográfico en construcciones de tejados. Las nubes de puntos resultantes permiten la visualización detallada de las construcciones representadas por puntos o mallas poligonales, pero de hecho no contienen información sobre el sistema estructural y los elementos del travesaño. El flujo de trabajo desarrollado contiene varias etapas de procesamiento en el conjunto de datos de la nube de puntos. Los más importantes son el cálculo del vector normal, la segmentación de puntos que extraen caras planas, la clasificación de segmentos planos que detectan las caras laterales del travesaño y, finalmente, el modelado paramétrico de los travesaños en función de los segmentos clasificados. Esto permite una transición altamente automatizada de los datos de la nube de puntos brutos a un modelo geométrico que contiene los travesaños del sistema estructural. El modelo geométrico, así como la información adicional sobre las propiedades estructurales de las vigas de madera involucradas y de sus juntas, es información necesaria de entrada para el modelado estructural eventual de las construcciones de madera. Los resultados del flujo de trabajo confirman que los métodos propuestos funcionan bien en travesaños que presentan secciones transversales rectangulares y deformaciones menores. Las sombras en los escaneados y las oclusiones de los travesaños a partir de instalaciones adicionales o vigas entrelazados disminuye el rendimiento del modelado, pero en general se logra un nivel de exactitud e integridad elevado con un alto grado de automatización.Pöchtrager, M.; Styhler-Aydın, G.; Döring-Williams, M.; Pfeifer, N. (2018). Digital reconstruction of historic roof structures: developing a workflow for a highly automated analysis. Virtual Archaeology Review. 9(19):21-33. doi:10.4995/var.2018.8855SWORD2133919Attene, M., & Spagnuolo, M. (2000). Automatic surface reconstruction from point sets in space. Computer Graphics Forum, 19(3), 457-465. doi:10.1111/1467-8659.00438Baik, A., Yaagoubi, R., & Boehm, J. (2015). 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Reconstruction of polygonal prisms from point-clouds of engineering facilities. Journal of Computational Design and Engineering, 3(4), 322-329. doi:10.1016/j.jcde.2016.05.003Dore, C., & Murphy, M. (2017). Current state of the art historic building information modelling. International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-2/W5, 185-192. doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XLII-2-W5-185-2017Dorninger, P., Nothegger, C., & Rasztovits, S. (2013). Efficient 3-D documentation of Neptune fountain in the park of Schönbrunn palace at millimeter scale. Proceedings XXIV International CIPA Symposium, ISPRS Annals, II, 5/W1, 103-108. doi:10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-W1-103-2013Eßer, G., Styhler-Aydın, G., & Hochreiner, G. (2016a). Construction history and structural assessment of historic roofs - An interdisciplinary approach. In K. Van Balen, & E. Verstrynge (Eds.), Structural analysis of historical constructions. Anamnesis, diagnosis, therapy, controls (pp. 790-795). London, GB.Eßer, G., Styhler-Aydın, G., & Hochreiner, G. (2016b). The historic roof structures of the Vienna Hofburg: An innovative interdisciplinary approach in architectural sciences laying ground for structural modeling. In J. Eberhardsteiner, W. Winter, A. Fadai, & M. Pöll (Eds.), WCTE 2016. World conference on timber engineering (pp. 3039-3047). Wien, Austria.Fischler, M., & Bolles, R. (1981). Random sample consensus: a paradigm for model fitting with applications to image analysis and automated cartography. Communications of the ACM, 24(6), 381-395. doi:10.1145/358669.358692Glira, P., Pfeifer, N., Briese, C., & Ressl, C. (2015). A Correspondence Framework for ALS Strip Adjustments based on Variants of the ICP Algorithm. Photogrammetrie, Fernerkundung, Geoinformation, 4, 275-289. doi:10.1127/pfg/2015/0270Hochreiner, G., Eßer, G., & Styhler-Aydın, G. (2016). 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Assessing the applicability of terrestrial laser scanning for mapping englacial conduits

his is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is included and the original work is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use.The morphology of englacial drainage networks and their temporal evolution are poorly characterised, particularly within cold ice masses. At present, direct observations of englacial channels are restricted in both spatial and temporal resolution. Through novel use of a terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) system, the interior geometry of an englacial channel in Austre Brøggerbreen, Svalbard, was reconstructed and mapped. Twenty-eight laser scan surveys were conducted in March 2016, capturing the glacier surface around a moulin entrance and the uppermost 122 m reach of the adjoining conduit. The resulting point clouds provide detailed 3-D visualisation of the channel with point accuracy of 6.54 mm, despite low (<60%) overall laser returns as a result of the physical and optical properties of the clean ice, snow, hoar frost and sediment surfaces forming the conduit interior. These point clouds are used to map the conduit morphology, enabling extraction of millimetre-to-centimetre scale geometric measurements. The conduit meanders at a depth of 48 m, with a sinuosity of 2.7, exhibiting teardrop shaped cross-section morphology. This improvement upon traditional surveying techniques demonstrates the potential of TLS as an investigative tool to elucidate the nature of glacier hydrological networks, through reconstruction of channel geometry and wall composition.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

A review of laser scanning for geological and geotechnical applications in underground mining

Laser scanning can provide timely assessments of mine sites despite adverse challenges in the operational environment. Although there are several published articles on laser scanning, there is a need to review them in the context of underground mining applications. To this end, a holistic review of laser scanning is presented including progress in 3D scanning systems, data capture/processing techniques and primary applications in underground mines. Laser scanning technology has advanced significantly in terms of mobility and mapping, but there are constraints in coherent and consistent data collection at certain mines due to feature deficiency, dynamics, and environmental influences such as dust and water. Studies suggest that laser scanning has matured over the years for change detection, clearance measurements and structure mapping applications. However, there is scope for improvements in lithology identification, surface parameter measurements, logistic tracking and autonomous navigation. Laser scanning has the potential to provide real-time solutions but the lack of infrastructure in underground mines for data transfer, geodetic networking and processing capacity remain limiting factors. Nevertheless, laser scanners are becoming an integral part of mine automation thanks to their affordability, accuracy and mobility, which should support their widespread usage in years to come

Comparison of remote sensing techniques for geostructural analysis and cliff monitoring in coastal areas of high tourist attraction: the case study of Polignano a Mare (Southern Italy)

Rock slope failures in urban areas may represent a serious hazard for human life, as well as private and public property, even on the occasion of sporadic episodes. Prevention and mitigation measures indispensably require a proper rock mass characterization, which is often achieved by means of time-consuming, costly and dangerous field surveys. In the last decades, remote sensing devices such as high-resolution digital cameras, laser scanners and drones have been widely used as supplementary techniques for rock slope analysis and monitoring, especially in poorly accessible areas, or in sites of large extension. Although several methods for rock mass characterization by means of remote sensing techniques have been reported in specific studies, there are very few contributions that focused on comparing the different methods in an attempt to establish their advantages and limitations. With this study, we performed digital photogrammetry, Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle surveys on a cliff located in a popular tourist attraction site, characterized by complex geological and geomorphological settings, as well as by disturbance elements such as vegetation and human activities. For each point cloud, we applied geostructural analysis by means of semi-automatic methods, and then compared multi-temporal acquisitions for cliff monitoring. By quantitative comparison of the results and validation by means of conventional geostructural field surveys, the pros and cons of each method were outlined in attempt to depict the conditions and goals the different techniques seem to be more suitable fo

As-Built 3D Heritage City Modelling to Support Numerical Structural Analysis: Application to the Assessment of an Archaeological Remain

Terrestrial laser scanning is a widely used technology to digitise archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage. This allows for modelling the assets’ real condition in comparison with traditional data acquisition methods. This paper, based on the case study of the basilica in the Baelo Claudia archaeological ensemble (Tarifa, Spain), justifies the need of accurate heritage modelling against excessively simplified approaches in order to support structural safety analysis. To do this, after validating the 3Dmeshing process frompoint cloud data, the semi-automatic digital reconstitution of the basilica columns is performed. Next, a geometric analysis is conducted to calculate the structural alterations of the columns. In order to determine the structural performance, focusing both on the accuracy and suitability of the geometric models, static and modal analyses are carried out by means of the finite element method (FEM) on three different models for the most unfavourable column in terms of structural damage: (1) as-built (2) simplified and (3) ideal model without deformations. Finally, the outcomes show that the as-built modelling enhances the conservation status analysis of the 3D heritage city (in terms of realistic compliance factor values), although further automation still needs to be implemented in the modelling process

External multi-modal imaging sensor calibration for sensor fusion: A review

Multi-modal data fusion has gained popularity due to its diverse applications, leading to an increased demand for external sensor calibration. Despite several proven calibration solutions, they fail to fully satisfy all the evaluation criteria, including accuracy, automation, and robustness. Thus, this review aims to contribute to this growing field by examining recent research on multi-modal imaging sensor calibration and proposing future research directions. The literature review comprehensively explains the various characteristics and conditions of different multi-modal external calibration methods, including traditional motion-based calibration and feature-based calibration. Target-based calibration and targetless calibration are two types of feature-based calibration, which are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the paper highlights systematic calibration as an emerging research direction. Finally, this review concludes crucial factors for evaluating calibration methods and provides a comprehensive discussion on their applications, with the aim of providing valuable insights to guide future research directions. Future research should focus primarily on the capability of online targetless calibration and systematic multi-modal sensor calibration.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades | Ref. PID2019-108816RB-I0