Same tree, different LiDAR platform and season

3D Model

This tree was scanned with a terrestrial laser scanner (RIEGL VZ-400, left), a mobile laser scanner (greenvalley backpack dgc50, middle) and an airborne laser scanner (Leica Citymapper, right) in leaf-on (top) and leaf-off (bottom) conditions.

It’s very interesting to see how the quality of the point cloud differs between platforms and seasons.

Things we noticed:

TLS/MLS: the point density rapidly decreases with height, more so in MLS than TLS, and more so in summer than winter (due to occlusion). Branches can be very well distinguished with TLS leaf-off, less so with MLS or in leaf-on conditions. MLS point clouds exhibit significantly more noise.

ALS: Good overall coverage of the crown shape, but lacks information on the trunk and lower part of the crown. No branches can be distinguised.

Data model: Barbara D’hont