A NEW METHOD FOR BUILDING EXTRACTION IN URBAN AREAS FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION LIDAR DATA

In this paper, a new method for the automated generation of 3D building models from directly observed point clouds generated by LIDAR sensors is presented. By a hierarchic application of robust interpolation using a skew error distribution function, the LIDAR points being on the terrain are separated from points on buildings and other object classes, and a digital terrain model (DTM) can be computed. Points on buildings have to be separated from other points classified as off-terrain points, which is accomplished by an analysis of the height differences of a digital surface model passing through the original LIDAR points and a digital terrain model. Thus, a building mask is derived, and polyhedral building models are created in these candidate regions in a bottom-up procedure by applying curvature-based segmentation techniques. Intermediate results will be presented for a test site located in the City of Vienna. * Corresponding author.