VOLUMES DETERMINATION IN TERMS OF VARIOUS DATA DENSITY AND SURFACE DIVERSITY

Purpose The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of input data density and diversity on surfaces obtained using the terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) method for creating digital elevation model (DEM). For this we can use several approaches, while we have chosen an intermediary parameter – volume calculation, which is in practice the most frequently requested requirement from surveyors. Methods Precise terrestrial measurement and terrestrial laser scanning were used to ensure that detailed knowledge about the surface and volumes of two piles of earth and a stone pit in comparison with theoretical defined surfaces was obtained. Results Mathematically defined surfaces generally have smooth shapes, and thus the effect of different density on the input data is less apparent in the final comparison of volumes. In our case the results for most of the different interpolation methods and the different density of the input data was less than 0.5%. From the experimental measurements of the two earth bodies and the quarry, which have an irregular shape with unsmooth surfaces, we can only test the relative precision of the calculated volumes to the data with the highest density