Laser Scanning in Engineering Surveying - Methods of Measurement and Modeling of Structures

Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics vol. 100/2016; pp. 109-130 DOI :10.
1515/rgg-2016-0010
Review article
LASER SCANNING IN ENGINEERING SURVEYING: METHODS OF

MEASUREMENT AND MODELING OF STRUCTURES
Grzegorz Lenda, Andrzej Uznański, Michał Strach, Paulina Lewińska
AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mining Surveying and

Environmental Engineering, Department of Engineering Surveying and Civil
Engineering, Krakow, Poland
Abstract
The study is devoted to the uses of laser scanning in the field of

engineering surveying. It is currently one of the main trends of research
which is developed at the Department of Engineering Surveying and Civil
Engineering at the Faculty of Mining Surveying and Environmental
Engineering of AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. They
mainly relate to the issues associated with tower and shell structures,
infrastructure of rail routes, or development of digital elevation models for a
wide range of applications. These issues often require the use of a variety
of scanning techniques (stationary, mobile), but the differences also regard
the planning of measurement stations and methods of merging point
clouds. Significant differences appear during the analysis of point clouds,
especially when modeling objects. Analysis of the selected parameters is
already possible basing on ad hoc measurements carried out on a point
cloud. However, only the construction of three-dimensional models
provides complete information about the shape of structures, allows to
perform the analysis in any place and reduces the amount of the stored
data. Some structures can be modeled in the form of simple axes, sections,
or solids, for others it becomes necessary to create sophisticated models of
surfaces, depicting local deformations. The examples selected for the study
allow to assess the scope of measurement and office work for a variety of
uses related to the issue set forth in the title of this study. Additionally, the
latest, forward-looking technology was presented - laser scanning
performed from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones). Currently, it is
basically in the prototype phase, but it might be expected to make a
significant progress in numerous applications in the field of engineering
surveying.
Keywords: engineering surveying, terrestrial laser scanning, mobile

laser scanning, UAV-borne laser scanning
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Lenda, G. et al.: Laser scanning in engineering surveying. . .
1. Introduction
Over the last several years, laser scanning has become one of the most important
methods of acquiring information about structures which are of interest to
engineering surveying. Its main advantage, compared to other methods, is the
possibility to obtain a full model of the structure, and not just its selected geometrical
parameters. The result of scanning is a point cloud, constituting the basis for
obtaining a 3D model, followed by its characteristic elements such axes, edges,
cross sections, surface areas, etc. Sometimes the modeling of the entire structure is
not required, or sometimes it is too complex, and then it can be reduced to
approximation of the desired elements of the structure only, or read selected
information directly from the cloud. Regardless of the final use and the type, a
continuous model of the structure, replacing a discrete, dense point cloud, allows for
a considerable reduction in the amount of the data needed to be stored, and
facilitates a comparison of periodic measurements.
This paper presents the uses of terrestrial laser scanning in the field of
engineering surveying and the related applications. The main issue relates to
measurement methodologies and also provides examples of data modeling. The
objects which were selected were of various size, structure and specific character:
elongated and surface structures, with regular and irregular shape. Elongated
structures can be both uniform objects, for example tower structures, as well as
extensive investments related to communication routes. In this case, scanning
methods (stationary or mobile), the methods of data modeling, and the obtained
geometric parameters subject to assessment, may be different. Surface structures
can be characterized by a diversified scale as well: from the shell of a shell structure,
to extensive digital elevation models. Also in these cases, it is possible to use not
only stationary, or, more broadly, terrestrial scanning, but the combined use of
scanning and the UAV technique is increasingly gaining significance, which can be
used, for example, to determine the cubic volume of bulk materials. Depending on
the shape of the surface (regular or not) and the required accuracy of the models,
analysis of the data may be performed based on various approximation methods.
The study discusses examples involving the measurements of industrial chimneys,
shell structures, infrastructure related to railway routes and elements of the digital
elevation model. A separate section is devoted to the UAV scanning, which is
currently treated as a tool in its testing stage, but with a considerable potential to be
used in the field of engineering surveying.
Research studies on these issues are currently being conducted at the
Department of Engineering Surveying and Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Mining
Surveying and Environmental Engineering of AGH University of Science and
Technology in Krakow.
2. Tower structure on the example of an industrial chimney
Industrial chimneys are examples of tower structures, for which one of the key
parameters determined during as-built measurements is the shape of the vertical
axis. It is most frequently determined using the method of bisector directions tangent
to the surface, or the polar method (Gocał, 2010), observing at least a few selected
levels of the structure. The result of the study is the axis in the form of a broken line,
related to the selected levels, presented in projections to all planes of the coordinate
system. The measurement and calculation procedures are simple and fast, however,
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Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics vol. 100/2016; pp. 109-130 DOI :10.1515/rgg-2016-0010
they la ack other informatio on about tthe geome etry of thee building structure. Laser
scannin ng, providiing informa ation whichh is sufficient to builld a 3D moodel of the e whole
structure, allows primarily to t determi ne the pre vilinear shaape of the axis. It
ecise, curv
also en nables to id
dentify stra
ains, lossess or crackss of the chimney shaaft. A considerable
advanta age of the scanning techniqu ue is a short
s observation tim me of the proper
constru uction, whhich is fav vorable d ue to its temporarry strains associate ed with
insolation and win nd pressurre.
The essential elements of the me easuremen nt proceduure includee the appropriate
selectioon of obse ervation sttations and d adjustment points for mergiing scans.. These
activitie
es are mo ore stringe ent than ffor classic cal measu urement m methods, and a the
differennce derivess from the object of observatio on. In order to obtainn a full poinnt cloud
represe enting the structure, it is requirred to enssure visibility of its enntire surface from
the sca anner posittions. Build
ding structu
ures adjacent to the chimney m make the se election
of scan nning posiitions difficcult. They should be stabilize ed right att the walls s of the
buildinggs (Fig. 1.bb), and sometimes a achieving a complete e visibility iss impossibble (Fig.
1.c), wwhich affeccts the subsequent modeling of the strructure onn the basis s of an
incomp plete point cloud.
1. Arrangem
Fig. 1 ment of obse ervation sta
ands for the measurement of a chiimney using g laser
scann art of the structure whi ch was invisible during
ning. The pa g scanning hhas been marked
m
w
with a bold line
For tthe classiccal methods of meas urement, threet statio

ons are opttimal, whereas for
scannin ng it is wo orth increa
asing theirr number to four. Reflectorles
R ss measurrements
carried out at verry acute angles, virtu ually alongg the tange ents to thee shaft, fre
equently
do not produce any a result; it is also vvitiated by major erro ors. The sizze of the areas
a at
the edg ges of the e structure
e which th hese probllems relate to, mayy be subje ect to a
number of factorss (Lenda et e al., 20155), such ass the type of the scannner (inclu uding its
range, carrier wa avelength),, the type of the chiimney surfface (metaallic and sy ynthetic
surfacees increase e these arreas in com mparison tot brick surfaces), teemporary changes
c
in refle
ectivity of the surfacee associate ed with weeather conditions (heeat, humidity), the
color oof the structure. If thhe point cclouds obta ained at adjacent
a poositions ha ave the
planned d mutual coverage
c which
w is ve
ery limited, it may turrn out that the merge ed point
cloud, having eliminated th he outlierss, has signnificant ga
aps in its sstructure. Such a
situatio
on may occcur when measureme
m ents are performed fromf only tthree standds. With
increassing their number
n to four standds, a sufficient margin of the m mutual cove erage of
adjacen nt clouds iss ensured..
Anotther reaso on for inc creasing tthe numbe er of mea asurementt stands regards
merging the clou uds into a uniform ccoordinate system. Generally, tower strructures
have surface too o small to ensure
e go od mergin ng accurac cy known aas cloud to o cloud,
howeve er, it mayy be a me ethod sup pporting the standarrd mergingg using re eflective
targets. The scan nning of buuilding struuctures carrried out frrom only thhree statioons may
providee insufficient coverag ge of the nneighboring g clouds, or
o it will occcur for the
e points
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with low accuracy. The coverage is to some extent dependent on the range of the
scanner - the greater it is, the farther away the stands may be arranged from the
chimney, which consequently increases the range.
The range is a key factor determining the applicability of the scanning technique
for the measurements of tower structures of significant height. It is definitely reduced
by soot and other pollutants, but red and white warning stripes located in the upper
parts of chimneys may cause a problem as well. A laser beam with a green dot (e.g.
Leica ScanStation C10) is strongly absorbed by the red color of the surface, resulting
in every other stripe being poorly measurable (Fig. 2.a). Scanning of higher chimneys
most frequently requires a significant approach of the measurement stands towards
the structure, and measurements of their upper parts are carried out at unfavorable,
steep lines of sight.
Point clouds obtained from adjacent positions are usually merged by means of
separately scanned adjustment points (reflective targets or spheres). Their
arrangement should form an irregular spatial solid with the span comparable to the
size of the structure which, in the case of tower structures, may be difficult to meet.
Due to the industrial infrastructure surrounding chimneys, to ensure visibility from the
neighboring stands, these points are generally established at a short distance from
the positions of the scanner, which can be located in close proximity to the chimney.
The area where the points are located, usually has a smaller (often significantly
smaller) horizontal span than the height of the observed structure. Additionally,
vertical span of the target grid, conditioned by the possibility to access high
structures, is usually limited to a few meters. From the perspective of the scale of a
tower structure, the arrangement of reference points can therefore be regarded as
close to coplanar, with a smaller span than the dimensions of the structure. Such
geometry results in the errors of the elevation coordinate of the target inducing
several times greater error of fitting clouds at great heights. Therefore, it is
particularly important to ensure a stable arrangement of targets. To strengthen their
spatial structure, it is advisable to additionally use the points located on the higher
parts of the chimney, which can be distinguished on adjacent scans. These
fragments should be scanned separately, with high resolution to get the best fitting of
the clouds. The scanning from four observation stands, as it was mentioned above,
contributes to the appropriate coverage of the clouds.
Filtration of point clouds, which allows to eliminate these observations which are
not the chimney construction (galleries, ladders, antennas, lighting, etc.), is an
important issue preceding the process of the proper modeling. Generally, this
process is carried out manually, but it is possible to use M-estimation algorithms
(Huber, 2009), removing outliers from a given model by a predetermined value. This
model can be a cylinder, a cone, or a set of planes (in the case of octagonal brick
chimneys). Automatic filtering effect can be assessed in Figure 2.a. The final filtering
of the cloud is always carried out manually, though, which prevents the removal of
the points illustrating local deformations of the structure.
Analysis of the results, depending on the required information, leads to the
formation of a regular (ideal solid), irregular (surface taking into account deformations
of the structure), and cross-sectional model. The regular model, as for the filtration of
the cloud, is created by using elementary geometrical solids or groups of solids. It
allows to acquire information about local deformations of the structure with respect to
its design shape, by determining the distance between the points and the surface
(Fig. 2.b). The presented model contains points with larger deviations (12-30 mm)
resulting from inaccurate filtering of the points from exterior installations. However,
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the ideeal mathemmatical model in the form of so olids does not allow w to determ mine the
shape of the ch himney ax xis. Only the irregu ular model offers suuch a pos ssibility,
presented in the form of the Triangullated Irregular Netwo ork (TIN) ((Li et al., 2004)
2 or
approxximating sp pline surfaaces (Kicia ak, 2005). Triangulated Irreguular Netwo orks are
usuallyy created using Delau unay trianggulation. Foor a dense e cloud of ppoints they y ensure
a good d approximmation of th he shape o of the chimmney. The e density mmay, howe ever, be
significantly reduuced by th he factors illustrated in Figure e 2.a: greaat losses in point
clouds associated with poo or reflectio
on of the beam
b from the red w warning be elts, and
those rrelated to the
t target being
b obsccured with exterior in nstallationss. This may y impair
the infoormation re
ead from thet model created by y flat triang
gles with a significan nt span.
The mo ost advancced method d for the mmodeling off a chimney y surface aare approx ximating
spline ffunctions (Fig.
( 2.c). They
T allow
w to create e a surface e with conttinuous curvature,
whose tension re educes local losses iin the poin nt cloud. This type off a model may be
used to o carry outt periodic compariso ons of changes in the shape oof the shelll and to
determmine the co ontinuous curvilinearr image off the vertic cal axis. SSuch an im mage is
formed by the alg gorithms determining g the medial axis (Siddiqi et al.., 2008) ba ased on
the left and right horizontal curve of th he chimney in a suita able cuttingg plane (Fig. 2.d).
In somme cases, there
t is no
o need to create thrree-dimens sional moddels of the e whole
structure, it is enough
e to
o develop selected horizonta al or vertiical sectio ons. To
determmine them, slices of point clou uds are us sed, which h have a ccertain thickness,
usuallyy not more than of a fewf centimmeters. This is necessary to en sure an ad dequate
bservation along the section lin
densityy of the ob ne, which may
m then bbe created d based
on regu ular models (circles, straight lin
nes) or irreg
gular mode els (spliness).
Fig. 2. Examples of developing models based on the t data from laser scaanning: a) re esult of
automaatic filtering
g of exterior installation
ns, b) deviattions of a po
oint cloud frrom a regular solid
(a con
ne), c) appro oximating spline
s surfacce, d) mediaal axis determined bassed on the vertical
v
section oof the spline
e surface
The discussed d problem

ms remain valid als so for slen nder strucctures otheer than
chimneeys, with co
onsiderable
e elongatio
on in the ve
ertical direction (coluumns, poles, etc.).
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3. Shell structure on the example of a multi-patch roof
Scanning measurements of shell structures become a standard tool for obtaining

geometric information about the objects of this type. Unlike the tower structures, for
which the shape of the axis is important, in the case of shells, the most important
information is about the shape of the shell surface. Classical methods of
measurement (angular spatial intersection method and polar method using
reflectorless total stations) are very time-consuming, and moreover, the first one
requires targeting the existing or determined points. The resulting set of observations
of small size, typically not exceeding a few hundred points, does not sufficiently
reflect local deformations of the shell.
Laser scanning seems to be the currently the most appropriate tool for
measurements of this type of structures. The point cloud and the models created on
its basis, offer the possibility of a detailed analysis of local shell deformations. The
general principles for the arrangement of measurement stations and targets in the
case of some shells which are also tower structures at the same time (e.g. cooling
towers), are similar to those for chimney measurements. For the observations of
shells, there is usually a higher number of scanner stands, which results from a much
larger span of the structure in the horizontal direction, and often its level of detail (Fig.
3). The key factor in the selection of the stations is the range of the scanner,
especially due to the greater variety of materials and colors that can cover the shell.
Scanning of the object presented in Figure 3, due to its complex structure which
consisted of seven surface patches of different size, required the use of six
measurement stations. In the case of shells of a significant spread in the horizontal
direction, the selection of targets is less critical. Even if it is not possible to install
them at a greater height, the large area which they cover is protected from failure to
fit the upper parts of the clouds by the merging process. In addition, when merging
adjacent scans, due to a large surface being observed, the cloud to cloud method
could be used as a support. A necessary condition for this method is obviously an
adequate margin of the cloud coverage, and good merging accuracy is supported by
high scanning resolution. In particular, the process of merging all the scans can be
performed only basing on the cloud to cloud method, which significantly accelerates
the measurement, eliminating the part related to the arrangement and scanning of
the targets. If merging of the clouds is carried out with their use, neighboring stations
should be merged by at least three targets. Most frequently, they are arranged on the
structure or in its close vicinity, which makes a specific point visible only from two, or
at most three, adjacent stands. For comparison, with a favorable arrangement of
targets during measurements of the chimney, it is possible to see the same points
from all positions of the scanner (only four such points may prove to be sufficient).
For the measurement of the structure illustrated in Figure 3.a, 19 targets were used,
which gives an idea of the amount of work associated first with their arrangement,
and then scanning. As a result of the measurements, the cloud visible in Figure 3.b.
was obtained. It has gaps in the observations related to the structure being obscured
by the elements such as vegetation, additional installations on the structure, or
adjacent surface patches.
Just as for the tower structures, point cloud must be filtered to eliminate
installations covering the surface. Automatic algorithms are of limited use here,
because the surface patches are not necessarily simple geometric solids, in relation
to which the process of eliminating the outliers can be carried out. In the case of the
structure discussed here, the observations inside the building structure, near the
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walls, which were created d by the b beam pas ssing throu

ugh glass patches, proved
especiaally time-co
onsuming and difficu
ult to filter.
Fig. 3.. Seven-pattched shell structure: a

a) general view, b) poin
nt cloud dividded into ind
dividual
paatches and gaps in observations ccaused by thet structure being obsscured locally
Mod deling of thhe shape of o shell strructures sh hould be performed

p using techhniques
which allow for the descrription of llocal shelll deformattions. Succh a possiibility is
provideed by the two previo ously menttioned metthods: Tria angulated Irregular Network
N
and approximatin ng spline su urfaces. TIINs represent a model which iss locally linear, not
preferreed in the studies
s of the
t shell sshape with a continuous curvatture, especially at
the plaaces with decreased
d point clou
ud density. The splin ne functionns ensure such a
continuuity. Until recently,
r heir use fo r the mode
th eling of daata from lasser scanning was
not po ossible, du ue to the e lack of appropria ate softwa are. Availaable applications
(Rhinocceros, Maya, 3D Studio Max)) allowed only o for the modelinng of interp polation
spline ssurfaces, rigorously
r passing th hrough the e measured points. S Such a surface is
formed based on n all the points from m the merg ging of the e patches, each of whichw is
extende ed on fourr corner po oints. Calcuulation cap pacity of modern com mputers is farf from
sufficie
ent to achieeve such a task, espe ecially thatt the splinee surfaces are determ mined in
a sequential proccess, which h means th he lack of opportunitty for multiicore calcu ulations.
Approxximating sp pline surfac ces allow tto significa antly reduc ce the num mber of generated
surfacee patches, thanks to o the addittional use of the me ethod of leeast square es. The
extent of each pa atch is determined a rbitrarily, as a a result of a prelim minary ana alysis of
the geo ometry of the point cloud.
c Theen, it is fitte
ed into a group
g of ppoints of anny size,
limited only by th he range of the pattch. At the e same tim me, the proocess of merging
m
adjacen nt patchess with contiinuity of cu urvature is performed d. With thiss solution, a good
compro omise is acchieved be etween fasst calculatio ons and fittting the suurface to thhe point
cloud, which is on o the ave erage leve el of severral millimetters. This type of modeling
m
allows to make overlays
o onn standard graphic pa ackages, forf examplee: RhinoResurf or
RhinoR Reverse.
The first one was used to build tthe model of the dis scussed, sseven-patc ch shell
structure. For ea ach of the e patches, separate approximating splinne surface es were
formed, which we ere ultimately merged d into one model along the edgge lines (Fig. 4.a).
Figure 4.b illustraates the analysis of th he accurac cy of fitting the shell i nto a pointt cloud.
As a result of modeling, the avera age accura acy of fitting g was achhieved at th he level
of 2.1 mmm. Large er deviationns, 9-15mm m, appeare ed locally, and were mainly due to the
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deformmations of sheet
s metaal plates ccovering the whole object. Partt of the deviations
(right side of the structure) arises from
m the difficculty in filte
ering the obbservations inside
the objject. Some e of the points,
p meeasured th hrough gla ass at acuute angles (which
contributes to the e occurrennce of erro oneous ob bservations s), were foound betwe een the
inner aand outer shell
s of the
e structuree. Some off them were so closse to the modeledm
outer sshell that th
hey were not rejecte ed in the fiiltration pro ocess, defforming thee spline
surfacee. The upp per part off Figure 4. b illustrate
es the arch hed belt oof large deviations
(12-15m mm). It waas created by modeliing using one o spline surface booth the pa atch and
the ad djacent rimm, between which tthere was a severa al-centimetter offset. Spline
functionns do not provide a good
g apprroximation of parts withw disconttinuous curvature,
which iis manifestted by largger deviatioons, but thhanks to th hem it is ppossible to identify
such places easiily. In this case, the rim should d be mode eled by a separate surface.
s
4. a) approximating spliine model o

Fig. 4 of the structure, b) anallysis of the accuracy off fitting
the mod
del into a po
oint cloud
Simiilar analyses can be e used to d

determine the differe ences relattive to the
e design
model and during g periodic measuremments to illlustrate ch
hanges in the shape e of the
shell ovver time.
4. Analysis of the tech hnical co ndition and

a metry of ttunnels and rail
geom
transport inffrastructure
In somme measure ements off building sstructures and techn nical infrasstructure, the time
require
ed to com mplete a given
g studyy, and the costs associated
a with it, play
p an
importaant role. There
T are also workss in which h access to o the survveyed structure is
limited,, which is dictated
d byy a large ddistance, la
ack of visib
bility (obscuuring, no lighting),
or secu urity reasoons (powerr cables, sstructure in n use). Th hese probleems occurr during
the surrveys of linnear structuures, which h include for
f example: transpoort routes, tunnels,
t
public utilities. Surveying of o these s tructures canc be ca arried out bby the com mmonly
used, cclassical measureme
m ent techniq ques. They are bein ng increassingly repla aced by
terrestrrial laser sccanning in the stationnary and mobile
m verssions.
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In the constructio on of the mobile

m lase
er scannin
ng systems s (MMS/M MLS), two types
t of
ns are identified. The
solution T first o
one are flexible
f sy
ystems. Inn this cas se, any
configuuration of in
ndividual measureme
m ent devices
s is allowe
ed, with thee use of staationary
3D sca anners an nd 2D pro ofile scann ners. Howwever, sys stems deddicated to mobile
measurements are a used more m often.. They usee profile sccanners inntegrated with
w the
ning devices GNSS//IMU. Rega
position ardless of the selectted solutioon, the MM MS/MLS
systemm consists ofo the followwing comp ponents:
- la
aser scanne nary or proffile;
er - station
- poositioning system,
s co
onsisting off: GNSS reeceiver andd IMU inertrtial unit;
- oddometer (D DMI);
- seet of photoogrammetriic camerass or video cameras;
c
- onn-board co omputer;
- otther optionnal compon nents (e.g. GPR).
The system fo or mobile laaser scann he vehicle s traveling
ning is insttalled on th g on the
road annd/or rail route
r at sppeeds from m a few to more than a hundre red kilometters per
hour. TThe system m is usually installedd on the rooof (Fig. 5a),
5 or on various platforms
(Fig. 5.b-c) and columns
c (Fig. 5.d), wh
hich the veehicles are equipped with.
a) b)
c) d)
Fig. 5. Examples ofo mobile las ser scannin

ng systems for railway applicationss: a) Street Mapper
annd b) Rail Mapper
M by IGI and 3D LLaser Mapp
ping (www.s streetmappeer.net, 2016 6);
c) LIMEZ III wo orking for Geerman Railw
ways (Wirth
h, 2008); d) GRP 5000 Rail by Am mberg
Technoloogies (www .ambergtecchnologies.cch, 2016).
Each
h of the co
omponentss of the MMMS/MLS sy ystem, reco
ords obserrvations in its own
frame of reference. In ord
der to merrge them and calculate the co coordinatess of the
scanneed points, a seriess of transsformations should be carrieed out, and a the
observaations oug
ght to be merged
m ussing the time stampp. In the p rocess of system
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calibrattion, offsetts betweenn its individ ual device

es are determined. Thhe referenc ce point
is usually the Inertial
I Meeasuremen nt Unit. In the case of deddicated sy ystems,
integrating variou us compon nents, calib bration is the
t manufa acturer's reesponsibiliity, who
providees the use er with spe ecific offse e systems,, the user has to
et values. In flexible
perform
m the calib bration. Regardless o of the applied solutioon, it is reqquired to reegularly
check tthe calibrattion param meters and,, if necessa ary, make appropriatte adjustments.
One of the app o laser sccanning is assessment of the teechnical co
plications of ondition
and thee geometryy of tunnels s, which reequire perioodic surveys (Hoult, Soga, 2014). Due
to poorr lighting and limited space, tun nnels are structures
s which
w are difficult to survey.
Anotheer problem,, affecting the safetyy of work, can c be veh hicular traffffic. Depending on
the lenngth of the e structuree and the type of communica
c ation, apprropriate sc canning
method ds are use ed (Gikas, 2012). Fo or the tunnnels whose e length dooes not ex xceed a
few huundred me eters, stationary lase er scannin ng may be e used (F Fig. 6). Fo or those
whose length excceeds seve eral kilome eters, mobbile scanninng is recom mmended, due to
the fastt rate in da
ata recordinng.
a) b)
6. Terrestria
Fig. 6 al laser scannning in the
e tunnel: a) the second line of the W Warsaw subway,
b)) on the railway line No
o. 8 near thee “Tunel” ra
ailway statioon.
The use of mo obile scanning techn nique in the measure ements of road and railway
tunnelss involves considerrable limita ations, esspecially with
w regarrd to the limited
availabbility of the
e GNSS signal. The e problem is reflecte ed in the oobtained absolute
a
accuraccies in de etermining the positio on of the measuring g system. In the case of a
prolong ged lack off signal, th
he accuraccy can drop p even up to tens off meters. To T solve
this prooblem, ap ppropriately
y dense a arrangemen nt of phottogrammettric control points
and the e high-end IMU and DMID device es includedd in the positioning syystem are used.
The reg gistered po oint cloud could be a source material
m for the prepparation of as-built
docume entation, as
a well as the basis for the co onformity assessmen
a nt of the exxecuted
structure and the e design (FFig. 7) (Zhhang et al., 2013). It is also poossible to analyze
a
the tecchnical con ndition of the structu re and thee geometry y of the tuunnel lining
g (Pejić,
2013). The fragm ment of thee point clooud repres senting the e longitudinnal sectionn of the
inner lining of the e tunnel (F
Fig. 8), shoows the ellements which charaacterize its s design
and tecchnical co ondition. Thhe identifia
able eleme ents includ de: crackinng (1), exp pansion
joint (2), zones off water pennetration (33). Also sto
one blocks s (4) are vissible, whic
ch make
up lininng of a pa art of the tunnel (4)), as well as numerrous pointss arranged d along
parallel vertical lines (5). These
T probbably are the eleme ents of thee anchoring g which
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reinforcces the lin

ning. The Figure
F also o clearly demonstra
d tes a wrinnkled area on the
roof of the tunnell (6). Cons
stant distannces betwe een the folds of simi lar characteristics
may indicate the use of a special
s strructure in this
t place, connectinng the old and the
new seection of the tunnel with
w two diffferent cros ss-sections.
a)
a b)
Fig. 7. a) The main axis in the
e subway tu unnel again
nst the pointt cloud, b) ccross sectio
on of the
tunnel witth the meas
sured radii.
8. A fragme
Fig. 8 ent of a poinnt cloud rep
presenting a longitudina al section off the inner tunnel
t
liining, prese
ented on thee basis of th
he intensity of reflectionn.
Anotther, often performed d study, is the analys sis of the preservationn of the cle earance
gauge (Novakoviić et al., 2014). Thiss condition must be met on alll transport routes,
regardless of the used mea ans of trannsport. Mos st frequenttly, howeveer, it is verrified on
rail routes. The analyses
a must
m be preeceded by an identification of tthe currentt course
of the rroute axis. In the casse of railwaays, first off all, the ro
olling surfaaces and th
he inner
edges of the rail heads mu ust be reccognized (F Fig. 9.a-b). On this basis, gau uge and
cant off the track can be callculated (F Fig. 9.c). In
n the middle of the seection defin ning the
track wwidth, the position
p of the track aaxis is calcculated. In the coursse of the works
w on
identifyying the axxis of the track, it is possible to use pro ocedures tthat autom mate the
identificcation of the
t spatial position o of each off the rails. Most freqquently, the ese are
algorithhms which h analyze the local difference es in eleva ations (Yaang, Fang, 2014).
These methods have h their weaknessses manifested by the problem ms with the correct
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classificcation of the
t points.. This takees place in n the vicin
nity of railw
way traffic control
devicess, on the sections with w checkk-rails, and d at the tu
urnouts. Inn such cases, an
addition nal step in verificatio
on of the cllassification is used. It is basedd on data filtration
f
by fittin
ng a rail mo
odel.
a) b) c)
Fig. 9. C
Cross-sections of a rail: a) correctt and b) with
h visible sid
de wear; c) ccross sectio
on of the
track, with
h the gaugee and cant.
Afterr a proper identificatiion of the pposition off railheads,, and havinng determined the
spatial course of the track axis,
a analyysis of the axis geom metry and itts position relative
to otheer elementts can be performed d. The bas sis for the control oof a safe distance
d
betwee en the raiilroad and d the tech hnical infra astructure is the vverification of the
clearannce gauge e preserva ation. For control pu urposes, a templatee (outline) of the
clearannce gauge should be e built. The e templatee is applied d perpendiicular to thhe track
axis, le
eaning on the rails (F Fig. 10). VVerification of the cleearance gaauge prese ervation
can be e implemen nted in twwo ways. In n one metthod, the template iis virtually moved
along tthe track in
n the 3D point
p cloud . The userr decides at a which pooint (milea age) the
templatte is set and the measurem ments of the t distanc
ce betweeen the cle earance
envelop pe and thee elements s of the pooint cloud are
a perform med. In thee second method,
m
cross-ssections at the pred determined d distance es on the track muust be generated
(Weixinng et al., 2014).
2 Theen, after aapplying a template of the cleaarance gauge, its
preservvation is analyzed.
a Exemplarry cases of verifyin ng the preeservation of the
clearannce gauge e have bee en illustratted in Figure 10, withw the disstinction between
b
railwayy tunnel (Fig. 10 a-b) and railwa ay route (Fig. 10 c).
a) b) c) d)
0. Selected cross-sectio
Fig. 10 ons with the
e clearance e envelope: a, b) in a raailway tunne
el; c) on
the routte; d) cleara
ance envelo
ope before a
and after th on of the traack axis adjustment
he completio
project.
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For the modernization purposes of the railway tunnel and the railway inside it,
track axis adjustment project was prepared (Strach, 2013). The project specified
adjustments to the spatial position of the track axis. The project can be implemented
under the condition of the preservation of the structure clearance gauge for the new
track position in the tunnel. The examination of the clearance gauge has been
demonstrated in Fig. 10.d. The envelope of the clearance gauge for the existing track
position (red) and designed track position (blue) was plotted on the transverse profile
generated from the point cloud.
5. Laser scanning of topographic objects
Multiple examples of buildings and other types of manmade structures surveys ware
given. Laser scanning has proven to be extremely effective by obtaining vast amount
of details in a very short time. The next logical step was to use this technology for
surveying of topographical structures.
Laser scanning can be used in monitoring changes in volumes of spoil tips. It
allows to acquire fast information on how the size of a tip alters, and also makes it
possible to monitor the changes in the angle of slopes on sides of such objects. In
order to maintain safety, the slopes must ensure that not even heavy rain is going to
make upper layer to slide. Laser scanning is more useful than standard GPS profiling
due to obtaining more data in shorter time. However, since most tips are undergoing
land rehabilitation process consisting usually of planting various kinds of trees, it is
important to plan the survey in advanced, and sometimes it is sufficient to use
airborne laser scanning techniques and later filter the vegetation out of the point
cloud.
Perhaps the most common usage of this technology is inventory of open pit mines.
Excavation in open pit mines is usually done in steps, involving blasting material,
transporting it to the preparation plants and then setting explosives for the next blast.
Constant survey of the blasting and excavating process must be done. Depending on
law and economic reasons, this is being done in various intervals of time, usually
weekly to monthly. GPS techniques ware commonly used for profiling the open pit. In
cases safety reason prohibit from entering the object UAV-Based Photogrammetry
technique is implemented. Those processes, however, is either time consuming or
not very accurate. In (Tong et al., 2015) authors are taking into consideration
classical methods and laser scanning. A laser scanner like UAV does not need to
enter the measured object (the exception being target placement). Also the accuracy
is similar to GPS. What is more, laser scanning could be used as reference for
cheaper and faster photogrammetry method providing extra reference points.
Other kind of objects that might require higher accuracy during measurements are
landslides (Strurzengger et al., 2007; Lenda et al., 2016). Since landslides can be
unpredictable, it might be important to measure even smallest, but continuous
changes to the observed areas. The result does not necessary need to be a dense
point cloud but the clouds done in time intervals need to be in the same coordinates
systems. Only then it might be possible to observe small changes.
Laser scanning is a part of remote sensing technology for a reason, it allows for
gathering spatial information without accessing the measured structure. This is
extremely helpful in regard to measuring objects like open pit mines or cliffs. Setting
the stations in appropriate distance from each other and from the object might cause
some problems. Taking into consideration the strength of the beam and the density
parameters of the used scanners is crucial. With top parts of spoil tips, beach, even
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parts oof landslidees, there iss little chaance of plaacing scan nner outsidde the object that
would cover the area in question.
q I n this cas
se, when placing
p thee scanner on the
object, the surveyy staff is le
eft with two o problems s. One involves settiing up man ny scan
stationss. Single station,
s ev
ven with a long rang ge scanner when theere is no enough
elevatioon, is goin ng to givee little infoormation since
s every
y higher oobject prov vides a
‘shade’’ covering space be ehind it. T The other problem might be the station itself.
Scanne er has a blind spot underneath where the oint cloud. This migh
ere is no po ht cause
problem ms during interpolation and la ater on measuring change
c in volume (Fig.11).
Placing g the scan nner on the e object m might not only
o make the surveey longer butb also
give inaaccurate results.
r Sometimes t here is a need n to ob
bserve dailly, or evenn hourly
change es of delica
ate objectss like sandyy river banks or snow w cover. Chhanges tha at occur
is suchh time perio ods demannds a lase r scanner with correc ct accuraccy but also a lot of
cautionn upon ente ering the object.
o Figuures 11 shows a GR RID modell constructed from
point clouds of a sea shore e. Besidess the inapp propriately placed scaanner (a circle
c on
the mesh, scanne er should not
n be placced on measured objject) footstteps of the e survey
staff (depth of foo otsteps – about
a 3 cm
m average)) are visible. Since thhe total diffference
betwee en the heig cans was a few centimeters on average, m
ghts of 2 sc mistakes liike that,
if not co
ontracted, might bring an error in calculattions.
Fig. 11 GRID model

m of a po
oint cloud oof a sea sho
ore: circle re
epresents a blind spot of
o the
scanner, foot prints
p of surv
rvey crew arre visible (p
pic. P. Zagó rski)
Therre are two o standardd ways of connectin ng scans. First is thhe use of targets
(chessbboards, sp pheres or other
o extra
a objects), placed in the rangee of the sc canners,
which ssoftware can
c identify y. It can alsso be done by cloud d to cloud method when the
softwarre identifies parts of the object as one. The T latter method
m is pproven to become
b
more aand more popular
p sincce it requirres shorterr survey. The drawbaack is that cloud to
cloud rregistration
n of the neeighboring clouds ne eeds to ha ave a lot oof overlay. This is
done with buildings, but smalle
easily d er structure
es cause problems inn the field. It is not
always possible to t place sc canner sta ations acco ordingly, fo
or examplee, plant life
e safety
issues might pre event it. The
T otherr issue miight be a lack of eeasily identifiable
elemen nts. In thiss instancee it is verry importa ant to check the reesults of software
s
ation. It might show a good acccuracy in the reportt, but oftenn point clouds are
registra
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wronglyy placed or
o rotated, even
e placeed upside down. Som metimes m manual regiistration
helps, b
but the obsserver not always ca n spot sim milar elements.
nt cloud is sometime
Poin es viewed as a result of 3D modeling,
m hhowever, fo or most
practica
al uses whhat is need ded is a su rface or soome kind of
o continuoous represe entation
of the object. Thhis can be done in vvarious wa ays, usually by messh or interp polation
processs.
Two basic representatio ons of po olygon mesh are kn nown as T TIN (Trian ngulated
Irregula
ar Networkk) or GRID D. TIN mo odel is an irregular triangle m model that can be
obtaineed either byb simply connecting g neighbooring pointss with linees that eve entually
create triangles without
w any y Delaunay triangulaation. The second
y special rrules, or by
method d allows to avoid elon ngated figuures and provides
p a smoother model. The GRID
model consists ofo a regularr field of sq quares done of points interpolaated from original
data. U
Usually it iss smoother than TIN N model. The usual methods
m off interpolation are
Kriging or Inversse Distanc ce Method d (Ries, 1993; Olea a, 1997). IIn more complex
c
softwarre other op ptions like spline intterpolation functions are possi ble (Lenda a et al.,
2016).
12. On the left - TIN mo

Fig. 1 odel made oof 1% of thee original po
oint cloud. O
On the rightt - TIN
model made of 1000% of the original
o poin
nt cloud. At the bottom - the differrence betwe een two
modelss. (Fot. P. Za
agórski)
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If a point cloud is dense and the terrain relatively uncomplicated, the means of
interpolation are not as important. The difference becomes more apparent if the point
cloud is sparse or terrain more complex. In the case illustrated in Figure 12, the
difference in height of the slope was about 20 meters. The terrain was a little bit
complicated, but there were no greater differences in model between creating a
mesh from 1% and 100% of original point cloud (fig. 12).
6. UAV-borne laser scanning
Laser scanning with the use of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) is a relatively new
technique for acquiring information, which is currently developing very intensively. In
engineering surveying, this technology should be treated as the one with very good
perspectives. For this reason, a decision was made to introduce laser scanning with
the use of UAV, although currently it is not used yet in the problems typical of
engineering surveying.
From the point of view of the title of this paper, it is important to draw attention to
the difference in relation to the most common use of UAVs. Despite the immense
popularity and the growing trend of using UAVs for acquiring data, it should be
mentioned that in the subject of this study concerning laser scanning, the current use
of UAVs is not widespread, nor is it a standard functionality of the UAS (Unmanned
Aerial System). The most common use of the UAS is photogrammetry, or acquiring
information from photographs taken with a digital camera (CCD camera). The UAS
measuring systems, equipped with laser scanners, are currently expensive solutions.
The cost is generated not only by the price of ultra-light laser scanner. The
installation of such an expensive device with a potentially high-quality measuring
results, as a consequence requires the installation of the GNSS (or GPS) receiver
and IMU (standard or even tactical class). In such Unmanned Aerial Systems,
sometimes one, or even more, digital cameras are installed.
The purpose of the UAS laser scanning is to obtain information about large areas
from the air. A particular advantage is the possibility to capture information about
inaccessible areas or those which are difficult to access, as well as in the conditions
posing a threat to humans. The main innovation contributed by the UAS solutions is
the elimination of the remote control, which is necessary in the ALS. This is a very
important extension of the availability of data acquisition technology from the air.
Another advantage is the significant reduction in project costs due to the replacement
of a manned aircraft or helicopter with a much smaller and less expensive UAV. This
is not an ideal change, though, and entails limitations for flight conditions. Manned
aircraft can fly into the storm. UAVs can fly at wind speeds up to approx. 10 m/s. On
the other hand, the UAV's dimensions allow to use it in places inaccessible to
manned aircraft, and provide a possibility to scan from the air while hovering, in the
case of multirotor UAVs.
The areas where the UAS laser scanning can be used, depend to some extent on
the equipment of the UAV. From the point of view of this study, the minimum
equipment of the UAS is a GNSS receiver, IMU, laser scanner, CCD camera. In
addition, it is possible to install additional thermal or multispectral imager, which
enables a specialized image analysis. An important parameter of each UAV is
MTOW (Maximum Take Off Weight) and the associated maximum flight time. Flight
time is still a very important drawback of the UAS, because it is usually from a few to
tens of minutes.
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The primary application of UAS lasser scanning are flights aimed at calcula ating the
volume e of landfiill materials and ea arth masse es, as we ell as minne working gs. The
accuraccy of calcu ulating the volume ha as been sttudied in (D Draeyer ett al., 2014)), where
the ressults of th he UAS photogram
p metry and LIDAR were w comppared. The e mean
deviatio on of the surface
s determined b by the two methods was estim mated at 2 cm to 4
cm (bu ut no referrence to a more acccurate mo odel was made), annd GSD (Ground (
Sample e Distancee) was 5 cm.c The diffference in n the determined voolumes was s in the
range o of 0.3% too 0.8%. Du ue to the iinaccessib bility of a place
p and a posed th hreat to
human life, the UASU laser scanning
s iss suitable for
f the identification and monittoring of
landslid de areas. In the comprehens ive study on the measuremeent techniq ques for
landslid des (Scaiooni et al., 2014), th he use of the UAS is still preesented as s a very
promising tool fo or the idenntification aand monito oring of landslide arreas. The primary
advanta e ability to conduct flflights at very low he
age is the eights, andd consequently, a
possibility to obtaain a betterr precision and resolution. In th he case of a multirotoor UAS,
an add ditional advvantage may be preccise contro ol of a flight, includinng hoverin
ng. FOV
(Field o of View) of
o the UAS S laser sccanner can n reach 33 30º or eveen 360º and may
facilitatte the acqu
uisition of a complete e set of datta during a single flig ht.
Fig. 13. Fie

eld of View Riegl VUX--1 (www.rie
eglusa.com))
In thhe case of linear structures, thee UAS lase er scanning g can be uused, for exxample,
for roa ad enginee ering, railw
way engine eering, gaas industryy, heat enngineering,, power
industryy. Surveyin ng, inspecttion and m
monitoring ofo linear structures exxecuted us sing the
UAS ca an be econnomically unrivaled
u in
n the case of larger structures.
s
FPV (F First Perso
on View) fu unction of tthe UAS, enabling
e to
o detect siites which require
special attention in real timme, e.g. du ue to their technical condition, may prov ve to be
useful. Another aspect
a of practical i mportancee, especiallly for lineear objects
s, is the
compettence leve el of the operator. U Undoubtedly, for such h applicati ons, the operator
o
with liccense to flyy BVLOS (Behind
( Viisual Line of Sight) has
h the greeatest adv vantage.
No need to folllow the UAS, U partiicularly in the terraain which is covere ed with
vegetattion, irreguular, crosse
ed by riverrs or wet, significantly
s y increasees the efficiiency of
measurements performed
p with
w the U UAS. The UAS U makees it possi ble to assess the
techniccal conditio
on of pipelines, powe cluding the detection of collision
er lines, inc n, or the
assesssment of the likelihood of its occcurrence with
w the gro owing vegeetation.
As itt was alreaady mentio oned, the mmost widely y used element of thhe UAS is a digital
camera a. Laser sccanning with the use of UAV ha as the advvantage thaat it can re
each the
ground surface th hrough veg getation (L
Lefsky et al.,
a 2002). The imporrtance of this t fact
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for the engineerin ng surveying results from the possibility of the meeasuremen
nt signal
to reacch the struccture, which is covere
ed with veg
getation.
14. Measure
Fig. 1 ements of canopy struccture made using NASA’s SLICER R (Scanning
g Lidar
Image
er of Canop
pies by Echoo Recovery
y) device (Le
efsky et al., 2002)
The decisive factor

f dete
ermining t he use off the new measurem ment techn nique in
practice e is its acccuracy andd efficiencyy. Basing ono the source literatuure, determ mination
of the achievable e accuracyy of the sttudy resultts, which useu laser sscanning with w the
UAVs, is difficult.. Analysis of various studies le eads to the conclusioon that Unm manned
Aerial S Systems equipped
e with
w a lase er scannerr, a GNSS receiver, IMU, and a CCD
camera a, were in most case es only pro T formulation of geenerally im
ototyped. The mportant
conclussions abou ut the acc curacy of the UAS is difficult becausee of its prrototype
charactter and the usual presence o of an elem ment of the e quality off results which
w is
substan ntially loweer than tho
ose offeredd by this typpe of devicces availabble on the market,
but unssuitable fo or the UAS S. GNSS models, IM MU laser scanners, with theirr weight
adapted to the UAS, are re elatively ra re. In the analyzed
a sources,
s thhe final res
sult was
heavilyy affected byb the quallity of the rresults of th
he weakes st element of the systtem.
Anallysis of th he measurrement ressults using g the UAV V-borne lasser scann ning are
relative
ely rare in the litera ature. On the other hand, the ere are pleenty of the e study
analyse es using digital pho otos from the UAS for differrent purpooses. In order o to
determmine the quality of the e results froom the UA AV-borne la aser scannning, the qu uality of
the test results with
w the use e of digital images ca an be treated as a reeference le evel, on
the asssumption that t the us
se of the sscanner (m millimeter distance
d m
measureme ent) will
improve e the quallity of studdies, which h means th hat in this case, thee accuracy y will be
higher.
The most relia able metho od to asse ess the qu uality of the
e results ccaptured frrom the
UAS, iss to compa are the obbtained coo ordinates with
w the co oordinates of controll points.
The co oordinates as the fin nal effect oof the stud dy are ana alyzed moost frequen ntly, but
there a are also works
w on the analyysis of intermediate e stages, for example the
accuraccy of the trrajectory of the movin ng UAV.
Theo oretical annalysis of the error s ources in LIDAR can be foundd, for exam mple, in
(Glennie, 2007). It also con ntains a coomparison with the va alues obta ined from the test
measurements fo or various equipment
e t configurattions.
The study (Na agai et al., 2008) an alyzed the e quality of the resullts from th he UAS,
built off CCD cam meras, lightt laser sca
anner SICK K LMS-291 1 of the acccuracy of 10 mm
for the range of 20 2 m, GPS S Astech G G12 receive er and IMU U Tamagaw wa Seiki TA7544.
T
The ho orizontal accuracy
a was
w estim
mated at 3-6 3 cm, and
a the hheight at 10 cm.
Neverth heless, the results were main nly affecte
ed by the use of a single-fre equency
GNSS receiver of poor quality q in the syste em. An ad dditional pproblem was w the
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synchronization of the GNSS receiver with the frequency of 1 Hz with the IMU with
the frequency of 200 Hz. The authors assessed the accuracy of the set GPS/IMU at
30 cm. The quality was improved to the level of a few centimeters thanks to the CCD
camera images.
In the case presented in (Wallace et al., 2012) the results were obtained with a
decimeter accuracy. The authors pointed to the inadequately designed control points
as the main cause (too large) and the systematic sampling properties of the laser
scanner. Beam divergence, which is high in Ibeo LUX laser scanner, affects
predominantly the horizontal accuracy of the point cloud in the direction along the
track. The aim of the research regarding forest areas is not without significance in
this respect.
In (Glennie et al., 2013), the same scanner was used as in (Wallace et al., 2012) -
Ibeo LUX, which has the accuracy of only 10 cm. The accuracy of the study results
was assessed for the following heights: 6 cm to 15 cm, and topographically at the
level of 20 cm.
The study (Eisenbeiss et al., 2009) analyzes the accuracy of the trajectory of the
moving UAV. Surveying reference measurement was used, which was carried out
with a precision total station measuring 360º prism, installed in the UAV. However,
the experiment, which was very reliably planned and carried out, has a fundamental
drawback. The UAS prototype was equipped with a single-freqency GPS module
manufactured by U-blox.
Currently, also commercial solutions of leading companies in the market of laser
scanners and satellite receivers are available. There are considerable differences in
the UAS as well. One such solution has a rotor span of almost 3m and 50 kg payload
capacity. It is highly probable that the advantages of this solution compared to the
ALS (LiDAR) is only limited to the lack of staff in the UAV. In the UAV which is so
large, it is surprising that it is equipped only in a single-frequency GNSS receiver with
precision of the coordinates in real time at the level of 20 cm. In another solution, as
claimed by the manufacturer, the set IMU/GNSS is characterized by the position
accuracy at 0.05 m - 0.3 m. On the other hand, laser scanner is available in three
types, differing in range and accuracy. For the most accurate variant, the
manufacturer claims the accuracy to be at the level of 5 mm for the maximum range
of up to 420 m. The minimum range is also significant, in this case it is 1.2 m. This is
the distance which the measured object may be approached to.
The analysis of the source literature proves that it is advisable to complement the
laser scanner measurement with CCD camera images. In some cases, it may serve
to increase the accuracy of the study results by using accurate georeferencing of the
images.
The accuracy of the results obtained from the UAS may not be the highest
possible to achieve for a specific object by surveying methods, but a compromise
between the accuracy and the economic side of measurements may point to the UAS
as more advantageous. Also, specific conditions of place and measurements can
significantly limit, or exclude, other surveying techniques.
The technical parameters provided by the manufacturers of mass-produced
equipment, look very promising as to the possibilities of using laser scanning with the
UAS in engineering surveying. It will be possible to attempt to carry out
measurements of the shape, displacements and deformations of various engineering
structures, including industrial structures.
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7. Summary
The presented examples illustrate only a part of the possible applications of laser
scanning, but they demonstrate how useful this technology has become in virtually all
issues related to engineering surveying and related applications. The most often
used scanning methods include terrestrial methods, i.e. stationary and mobile which,
depending on the structure, may substantially differ in the arrangement of stands,
ground control points, or measurement platform (mobile solutions). The scanning
carried out using UAVs looks promising. After eliminating temporary problems with
the accuracy of data acquisition and the duration of the flight, it will facilitate the
access to additional information about the geometry of structures, unachievable from
the ground stations. Measurement methods, in spite of their rapid development, tend
to be more refined than the current method for developing point clouds. Data
processing algorithms associated with filtration, extraction and data modeling,
represent a very extensive subject. Modeling can be performed based on two-
dimensional sections, three-dimensional spatial axes, simple geometric solids, and
even sophisticated surfaces imaging local deformations of the structure. The
condition for economic and correct modeling is, however, appropriate filtration and
extraction of data, in which automation is probably the biggest challenge in the field
of processing data from laser scanning.
Acknowledgements
The paper was prepared within the scope of the AGH University of Science and Technology
statutory research no. 11.11.150.005 in 2016
References
Draeyer, B., & Strecha, Ch., (2014). Pix4D White paper– How accurate are UAV
surveying methods? https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-us/sections/200591029-
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Authors:
Grzegorz Lenda 1), Ph.D, grzenda@agh.edu.pl
Andrzej Uznański 1), Ph.D, auznan@agh.edu.pl
Michał Strach 1), D.Sc, Eng., strach@agh.edu.pl
Paulina Lewińska 1), Ph.D, lewinska.paulina@gmail.com
1)
AGH University of Science and Technology
Faculty of Mining Surveying and Environmental Engineering
Department of Engineering Surveying and Civil Engineering, 30 Mickiewicza Av.,
30 – 059 Krakow, Poland
130
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Laser Scanning in Engineering Surveying - Methods of Measurement and Modeling of Structures

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Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics vol. 100/2016; pp. 109-130 DOI :10.

LASER SCANNING IN ENGINEERING SURVEYING: METHODS OF

Grzegorz Lenda, Andrzej Uznański, Michał Strach, Paulina Lewińska

AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mining Surveying and

The study is devoted to the uses of laser scanning in the field of

Keywords: engineering surveying, terrestrial laser scanning, mobile

2. Tower structure on the example of an industrial chimney

For tthe classiccal methods of meas urement, threet statio

The discussed d problem

3. Shell structure on the example of a multi-patch roof

Scanning measurements of shell structures become a standard tool for obtaining

walls, which were created d by the b beam pas ssing throu

Fig. 3.. Seven-pattched shell structure: a

Mod deling of thhe shape of o shell strructures sh hould be performed

4. a) approximating spliine model o

Simiilar analyses can be e used to d

4. Analysis of the tech hnical co ndition and

In the constructio on of the mobile

Fig. 5. Examples ofo mobile las ser scannin

calibrattion, offsetts betweenn its individ ual device

reinforcces the lin

5. Laser scanning of topographic objects

Fig. 11 GRID model

12. On the left - TIN mo

6. UAV-borne laser scanning

Fig. 13. Fie

The decisive factor

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