Quality assessment of 3D point cloud of industrial buildings from imagery acquired by oblique and nadir UAV flights

Abstract

Purpose. The main objective of this paper is to assess the quality of the 3D model of industrial buildings generated from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery datasets, including nadir (N), oblique (O), and Nadir and Oblique (N+O) UAV datasets. Methodology. The quality of a 3D model is defined by the accuracy and density of point clouds created from UAV images. For this purpose, the UAV was deployed to acquire images with both O and N flight modes over an industrial mining area containing a mine shaft tower, factory housing and office buildings. The quality assessment was conducted for the 3D point cloud model of three main objects such as roofs, facades, and ground surfaces using CheckPoints (CPs) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point clouds as the reference datasets. The Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) were calculated using CP coordinates, and cloud to cloud distances were computed using TLS point clouds, which were used for the accuracy assessment. Findings. The results showed that the point cloud model generated by the N flight mode was the most accurate but least dense, whereas that of the O mode was the least accurate but most detailed level in comparison with the others. Also, the combination of O and N datasets takes advantages of individual mode as the point clouds accuracy is higher than that of case O, and its density is much higher than that of case N. Therefore, it is optimal to build exceptional accurate and dense point clouds of buildings. Originality. The paper provides a comparative analysis in quality of point cloud of roofs and facades generated from UAV photogrammetry for mining industrial buildings. Practical value. Findings of the study can be used as references for both UAV survey practices and applications of UAV point cloud. The paper provides useful information for making UAV flight planning, or which UAV points should be integrated into TLS points to have the best point cloud.