CLASSIFICATION OF LiDAR DATA WITH POINT BASED CLASSIFICATION METHODS

Abstract. LiDAR is one of the most effective systems for 3 dimensional (3D) data collection in wide areas. Nowadays, airborne LiDAR data is used frequently in various applications such as object extraction, 3D modelling, change detection and revision of maps with increasing point density and accuracy. The classification of the LiDAR points is the first step of LiDAR data processing chain and should be handled in proper way since the 3D city modelling, building extraction, DEM generation, etc. applications directly use the classified point clouds. The different classification methods can be seen in recent researches and most of researches work with the gridded LiDAR point cloud. In grid based data processing of the LiDAR data, the characteristic point loss in the LiDAR point cloud especially vegetation and buildings or losing height accuracy during the interpolation stage are inevitable. In this case, the possible solution is the use of the raw point cloud data for classification to avoid data and accuracy loss in gridding process. In this study, the point based classification possibilities of the LiDAR point cloud is investigated to obtain more accurate classes. The automatic point based approaches, which are based on hierarchical rules, have been proposed to achieve ground, building and vegetation classes using the raw LiDAR point cloud data. In proposed approaches, every single LiDAR point is analyzed according to their features such as height, multi-return, etc. then automatically assigned to the class which they belong to. The use of un-gridded point cloud in proposed point based classification process helped the determination of more realistic rule sets. The detailed parameter analyses have been performed to obtain the most appropriate parameters in the rule sets to achieve accurate classes. The hierarchical rule sets were created for proposed Approach 1 (using selected spatial-based and echo-based features) and Approach 2 (using only selected spatial-based features) and have been tested in the study area in Zekeriyaköy, Istanbul which includes the partly open areas, forest areas and many types of the buildings. The data set used in this research obtained from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality which was collected with ‘Riegl LSM-Q680i’ full-waveform laser scanner with the density of 16 points/m2. The proposed automatic point based Approach 1 and Approach 2 classifications successfully produced the ground, building and vegetation classes which were very similar although different features were used.