A Comparison of UAV LiDAR and Terrestrial Laser Scanner Accuracies 3D Data Pro

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Foltz, Steven, author.

Contributor:

Clarson, Julia

Terpstra, Toby

Conference Name:

WCX SAE World Congress Experience (2025-04-08 : Detroit, Michigan, United States)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource cm

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2025

Summary:

The accident reconstruction community frequently uses Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS) to capture accurate 3D images of vehicle accident sites. This paper compares the accuracy, workflow, benefits, and challenges of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) LiDAR, or Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), to TLS. Two roadways with features relevant to accident reconstruction were selected for testing. ALS missions were conducted at an altitude of 175 feet and a velocity of 4 miles per hour at both sites, followed by 3D scanning using TLS. Survey control points were established to minimize error during cloud-to- cloud TLS registration and to ensure accurate alignment of ALS and TLS point clouds.After data capture, the ALS point cloud was analyzed against the TLS point cloud. Approximately 80% of ALS points were within 1.8 inches of the nearest TLS point, with 64.8% at the rural site and 59.7% at the suburban site within 1.2 inches. These findings indicate that UAV-based LiDAR can achieve comparable accuracy to TLS in accident site documentation, offering potential advantages in efficiency, safety, and accessibility

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2025-01-8694

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license