Long Strip Registration of TLS Point Clouds and Propagation of Uncertainty

Sammanfattning

Terrestrial laser scanning systems provide quick three-dimensional data acquisition with high spatial resolution. The technology can serve multiple applications such as monitoring and 3D modeling but several problems arise when scanning long objects such as tunnels, bridges, and corridors. Uncertainties in the data tend to propagate when conducting sequential registration on a long strip of point clouds and the errors can reach unacceptable levels only with a few scans. This thesis aims to examine this propagation of uncertainty caused by long strip registration and its effects on point cloud accuracy and precision. It further aims to evaluate the results of different ground control point distributions used for georeferencing and finally to construct guidelines and recommendations for the planning of terrestrial laser scanning projects of long objects. The thesis was divided into an analytical- and an experimental study. The analytical study explored the theoretical effects of long strip registration on a point cloud’s uncertainty by simulating repeated target-based registration in a 95-meter-long and 2.5-meter-wide corridor. This resulted in standard uncertainties of the point cloud coordinates on dm-level after the last registration and a clear trend in exponential growth. Tie point distribution in the overlaps between scans proved to have a big effect on the precision of the final point cloud. In the experimental study, a corridor of the same dimension was scanned from 16 stations and georeferenced in a local control network established at the scan site. Indirect registration in two steps was used, first by performing automatic feature-based registration in RealWorks before the point cloud was georeferenced. The results of different ground control point (GCP) scenarios were compared and evaluated by studying check point residuals. All scenarios had numerous check points that failed verification as the residuals exceeded the limit set to 15 mm. An even distribution of almost one GCP in every scan scene yielded the best results with a maximum check point residual of 3 cm in 3D. When the GCPs were clustered at one side of the corridor the check point residuals reached dm level at the opposite end. Also, a linear trend of increasing residuals as a function of distance from the point to the nearest GCP was evident. The linear trend was less evident when the GCPs were distributed evenly across the corridor. Their distribution proved more important than their quantity. The vertical coordinate component and the horizontal component perpendicular to the long side of the object proved less precise and accurate after long strip registration. This was apparent in both the analytical and the experimental study.