Graph Topology Design for Generating Building Database and Implementation of Pattern Matching

Abstract

Research on developing algorithms for building modeling such as extracting outlines of the buildings and segmenting patches of the roofs using aerial images or LiDAR data are active. However, utilizing information from the building model is not well implemented yet. This study aims to propose a scheme for search identical or similar shape of buildings by utilizing graph topology pattern matching under the assumptions: (1) Buildings were modeled beforehand using imagery or LiDAR data, or (2) 3D building data from digital maps are available. Side walls, segmented roofs and footprints were represented as nodes, and relationships among the nodes were defined using graph topology. Topology graph database was generated and pattern matching was performed with buildings of various shapes. The results show that efficiency of the proposed method in terms of reliability of matching and database structure. In addition, flexibility in the search was achieved by altering conditions for the pattern matching. Furthermore, topology graph representation could be used as scale and rotation invariant shape descriptor. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.