Where is the Ground? Quality measures for the planar digital terrain model in terrestrial laser scanning

Abstract

In the analysis of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data the digital terrain model (DTM) is one of important elements. To evaluate the DTM or to find the DTM by way of optimization it is necessary to formulate the measure of DTM quality. Three parameterized measures are proposed and tested against a comparative model for a series of TLS data. The measure equal to the number of points inside a layer of specified height above the plane appeared to produce the most distinct maximum for an optimal model. The measures have been applied to the planar DTM but their use for other models is possible.