Interpretation of Urban Surface Models Using 2D Building Information

In 3D building reconstruction the interpretation process can be simplified if digital surface models (DSM), which can either be derived from stereo matching of aerial images or be directly measured by scanning laser systems, are used in addition to or instead of image data. Images contain much information, but the resulting complexity causes enormous problems for an automatic interpretation of this data type. Since the information of a DSM is restricted to surface geometry its interpretation is simplified by the absence of unnecessary details. Nevertheless, due to insufficient spatial resolution and quality of the DSM, especially for these applications, optimal results can only be achieved by the use of additional data sources. Within the approach presented in this paper the segmentation of planar surfaces from the DSM is supported by existing ground plans. This 2D building information is also used to derive hypotheses on the possible roof shapes in order to obtain a 3D boundary representation based on the segmented planes.