SLAM AND INS BASED POSITIONAL ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS UNDER THE FOREST CANOPY

Abstract. The positional accuracy derived from the outputs of carried integrated devices was evaluated in this study. For data collection, the inertial navigation system (INS) SPAN NovAtel and a handheld mobile laser scanner GeoSLAM ZEB Horizon which uses simultaneous localization and mapping technology (SLAM) were utilized for data collection. The accuracy was assessed on the set of reference objects located under the forest canopy, which were measured via a traditional field survey (the methods of geodesy). In the results of this study the high potential of the devices and the application of data collection methods into forestry practice were pointed out. In our research, when the horizontal position of artificial entities was evaluated the average RMSE of 0.26 m, and the average positional RMSE of the derived natural objects (trees) was 0.09 m, both extracted from SLAM. The horizontal positional accuracy of trajectories with RMSE of 9.93 m (INS) and 0.40 m (SLAM) were accomplished.