Skip to main content
Log in

Investigations into the influence of object characteristics on the quality of terrestrial laser scanner data

  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

In contrast to other existing terrestrial surveying instruments, there are not many benchmark tests available for Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) data quality specifications. This paper presents two possible approaches to the standardization of a TLS point data set. Firstly, the ranging accuracy from an instrument to the object is investigated by comparing measured distances by TLS with those of Total Station (TS). In this case, we use two different slope distances with one being about 25 m and the other, about 50 m in range. Secondly, the comparison of data intensity with six different materials, such as aluminum, a sheet of plywood, resin (black & white), steel (black), and laminate (yellow) is carried out. When comparing the distances measured by TS and those scanned by TLS, the standard deviations (Std.) of differences were found to be about 7 mm (50 m range) and 3 mm (25 m range). In the case of plane-fitting of point clouds, aluminum with white color gave better result than that of others, suggesting that the color of an object affects the intensity value of point clouds. It is expected that these results will contribute to the quality evaluation of TLS point clouds and the selection of standard targets.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baber, D., Mills, J., and Bryan, P. (2001). “Laser scanning and photogrammetry: 21st Century metrology.” Proceedings of the Surveying and Documentation of Historic Buildings — Monuments — Sites Traditional and Modern Methods, CIPA 2001 International Symposium, Potsdam.

  • Boehler, W., Bordas, M., and Marbs, A. (2003). “Investigating laser scanner accuracy.” Originally Presented at the XIXth Cipa Symposium at Antalya, Turkey, 30 Sep–4 Oct 2003, Updated For Web Presentation October 2003.

  • Boehler, W., Heinz, G., and Marbs, A. (2001). The potential of noncontact close range laser scanners for cultural heritage recording, CIPA Working Group VI, pp. 1–8.

  • Fröhlich, C. and Mettenleiter, M. (2004). “Terrestrial laser scanning new perspectives in 3D surveying.” International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. XXXVI-8/W2, Freiburg, Germany, pp. 7–13.

  • Gerthsen, C. and Vogel, H. (1993). Physik. 17, verbesserte und erweiterte auflage, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

  • Gordon, S. J., Lichti, D., and Stewart, M. (2001). “Application of a high-resolution, ground-based laser scanner for deformation measurements.” Session I, New Techniques In Monitorings Surveys I 10th FIG International Symposium on Deformation Measurements, 19–22 March, Orange, California, USA, pp. 23–32.

  • Hanke, K., Grussenmeyer, P. P., Grimm-Pitzinger, A., and Weinold, T. (2006). “First experiences with the trimble GX scanner.” Proc. of ISPRS, Commission V, WG V/3, Dresden, Germany.

  • Ingensand, H., Ryf, A., and Schulz, T. (2003). “Performances and experiences in terrestrial laserscanning.” Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Optical 3D Measurement Techniques, Zurich.

  • Jaselskis, E. J., Thomas, C. E., Andrle, S. J., and Gao, Z. Z. (2003). Pilot study on improving the efficiency of transportation projects using laser scanning, Final Report, Centre for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State University, Midwest Transportation Consortium, USA, pp. 1–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kersten, Th., Sternberg, H., Mechelke, K., and Acevedo Pardo, C. (2004). “Terrestrial laser scanning system Mensi GS100/GS200 — Accuracy tests, experiences and projects at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.” Proceedings of the ISPRS Working Group V/1 ‘Panoramic Photogrammetry Workshop,’ IAPRS, Vol. XXXIV,PART 5/W16, Editors H.-G. Maas & D. Schneider, Dresden, Germany, pp. 19–22.

  • Kim, Y. (2005). Studies on the characteristics and safety evaluation of rock slope and dam structure by terrestrial laser scanning system, Master’s Thesis, Paichai University, Daejeon, Korea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I. S. and Kang, S. G. (2006). “The study on reconnaissance surveying using terrestrial laser scanner.” Journal of the Korean Society for Geospatial Information System, Vol. 13, No.3, pp. 79–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, H. M. and Park, H. S. (2004). “An accuracy analysis of terrestrial LiDAR for measuring of displacement of structure.” Proc. of Architectural Institute of Korea, Kyungdong University, October 29∼30, Vol. 24, No.2, pp. 207–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I. S., Tcha, D. K., Kim, S. J., and Kim, H. M. (2009). “The performance evaluation of the distache measurement for terrestrial laser scanner using point clouds.” 2009 Joint Conference of Korea Spatial Information Society, the Korea Society for Geospatial information System, Geographic Information System Association, Ksiss, Ilsan Kintex, Korea, pp. 354–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemmens, M. (2007). GIM international (the global magazine for Geomatics), Terrestrial Laser Scanners: August 2007, Vol. 21,Issue 8, Product Survey.

  • Lichti, D. and Harvey, B. (2002). “The effects of reflecting surface material properties on time-of-flight laser scanner measurement.” Symposium on Geospatial Theory, Processing and Applications, Ottwa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfeifer, N, Dorninger, P, Haring, A., and Fan, H. (2007). “Investigating terrestrial laser scanning intensity data: Quality and functional relations.” In: 8th Conf. on 3D, Zurich, Switzerland.

  • Schulz, T. and Ingensand, H. (2004). “Terrestrial laser scanning — Investigations and applications for high precision scanning.” FIG Working Week 2004, Athens, Greece, pp. 22–27.

  • Shan, J. and Charles. K. Toth. (2008). Topographic laser ranging and scanning: Principles and processing, CRC Press, p. 92.

  • Sokkia (2009). cited from http://www.sokkia.com; products.

  • Trimble (2009). cited from http://www.trimble.com; Trimble GX 3D Scanner Datasheets.

  • Voegtle, T, Schwab, I., and Landes, T. (2008). Influences of different materials on the measurements of a Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), IAPRS 2008, Beijing. cited from http://www.isprs.org/congresses/beijing2008/proceedings/5_pdf/182.pdf.

  • Wehr, A. (1999). “3D-Imaging laser scanner for close range metrology.” Proc. of SPIE, Orlando, Florida, 6–9 April 1999, Vol. 3707, pp. 381–389.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jae One Lee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lee, I.S., Lee, J.O., Park, H.J. et al. Investigations into the influence of object characteristics on the quality of terrestrial laser scanner data. KSCE J Civ Eng 14, 905–913 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-010-0986-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-010-0986-7

Keywords

Navigation