A marked point process for automated tree detection from mobile laser scanning point cloud data

Abstract

This paper presents a new algorithm for tree detection from airborne / mobile laser scanning or LiDAR point cloud data. The algorithm takes advantage of a marked point process to model the locations of trees and their geometries. The algorithm also uses the Bayesian paradigm to obtain a posterior distribution for the marked point process conditional on the LiDAR point cloud data. A Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) algorithm is developed to simulate the posterior distribution. Finally, the maximum a posteriori (MAP) scheme is used to obtain optimal tree detection. This algorithm has been examined by a set of LiDAR point cloud data. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm for automated detection of trees.