Urban Objects Extraction from 3D Laser Point Clouds Acquired by a Static Laser Scanner and a Mobile Mapping System

Abstract

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) whether in static scanning or mobile scanning, as in the case of a mobile mapping system (MMS), generates a large amount of 3D data. These data can be used for a variety of purposes. The aim of this research study is to experiment terrestrial laser scanning, in both static and mobile mode, for the extraction of urban objects of an urban street survey. Particularly, this research aims to develop a comparative study, of the two methods, according to the conventional method (tachometry measurement). We have established a methodology in order to extract objects form 3D data collected by a static laser scanner and a mobile mapping system. The proposed methodology has been tested on two urban street sections of 300 meters length. Finally, we fixed a comparative analysis between the two laser scanning methods, within the following comparison levels: qualitative level (precision and completeness criteria), time level (operative time for acquisition and processing) and financial level (direct costs). The results show the efficiency of the mobile mapping approach especially for data acquisition. To establish an urban survey, the direct cost is 71% cheaper using a mobile mapping system and 50% cheaper using a static laser scanner, than using the conventional method.