Impact of Using LiDAR Points as Vertical Control in Aerial Triangulation.

Every type of remote sensing sensor has its own advantages and limitations. Integration of data from various remote sensing devices is increasingly becoming common to produce a better mapping product. For example, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data has better vertical accuracy compared to horizontal accuracy, whereas 3D data produced using aerial images has better horizontal accuracy compared to vertical accuracy. LiDAR and aerial images have several complementary properties. Therefore, integration of these two datasets could result in a better topographic product. In this article, the LiDAR data are used as vertical control to perform aerial triangulation using aerial images. The vertical measurement of LiDAR data and image plane coordinates of the corresponding point from aerial images were considered as known parameters. This method was implemented using synthetic data consisting of 54 ground points and three aerial images. Eight different scenarios were experimented that showed increased horizontal and vertical accuracy when compared to LiDAR or aerial images alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]