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Contours from a 3D point cloud

May 28, 2020
Contours from a point cloud in Lidar360
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You can generate contour lines from a point cloud.

You have two options:
– process a digital elevation model and then generate the contour lines from it;
– create contour lines directly from the point cloud.

The first method follows the same principle as GIS software do.

The second is much more similare to a topographical triangulation.

Regardless of what you choose, which depends (a lot) on the software you use, the contour lines must be representative of the terrain.

So, i would recommend:

  • to clean the point cloud, removing everything that is not ground (trees, cars, buildings, …).
  • Lower the density of the cloud to avoid “nervous” curves (because they rely on many points).
  • Simplify the cloud according to the step of the contour lines. If you have to build contours that represent 1 meter of elevation it is not necessary to have a cloud with points 1 cm apart from each other.
  • Check the result and be ready to work on it a bit to fix the lines, if necessary.
  • Be prepared to have areas where the curves are interpolated because you may have holes in the point cloud.

I’m actually using LiDAR360 and it has a very good contours generation algorithm directly from the point cloud!

 

Ciao!

Paolo Corradeghini

Related posts:

  1. Easy cross sections from a 3D model of a riverbed
  2. FROM SPREADSHEET TO POINT CLOUD
  3. Photogrammetry on grass – Lower elevation of a point cloud
  4. Remove duplicate points with Cloud Compare
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Paolo Corradeghini

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  • ABOUT ME

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    My name is Paolo Corradeghini.
    I’m an italian egineer.
    I was born in 1979 and i’m a surveyor.
    I’m passionate about outdoor sports and love to comunicate through writing and visuals.

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