Processing of Laser Scanner Data and Automatic Extraction of Structure Lines

Airborne laser scanner raw data are unstructured and irregular points which need intensive post processing. The first step is the separation of valuable points which lie on the ground surface (ground points) from outliners which are located above it (non-ground points). Another task is the extraction of structure lines from the laser scanner. Structure lines play an important role for the construction of precise DEM. The presented and developed method for the extraction of structure lines is based on the digital image processing methods and on the differential geometry of curves. This operator was initially developed for image processing and is now used in a new context. The developed and implemented methodology is open for further extension and compatibility. It is hence possible to use it in other fields of application. The presented work shows that image processing methods yield good results for the extraction of structure lines without the need of specific knowledge of objects.