Feasibility of multispectral airborne laser scanning for land cover classification, road mapping and map updating

Abstract

This article summarises our first results and experiences on the use of multispectral airborne laser scanner (ALS) data. Optech Titan multispectral ALS data over a large suburban area in Finland were acquired on three different dates in 2015-2016. We investigated the feasibility of the data from the first date for land cover classification and road mapping. Object-based analyses with segmentation and random forests classification were used. The potential of the data for change detection of buildings and roads was also demonstrated. The overall accuracy of land cover classification results with six classes was 96% compared with validation points. The data also showed high potential for road detection, road surface classification and change detection. The multispectral intensity information appeared to be very important for automated classifications. Compared to passive aerial images, the intensity images have interesting advantages, such as the lack of shadows. Currently, we focus on analyses and applications with the multitemporal multispectral data. Important questions include, for example, the potential and challenges of the multitemporal data for change detection.