Extract 3D features and elevation from point clouds—3D Workflows

Point cloud data is a collection of spatial points that are represented as x,y and z-coordinates with additional attribute information. You can collect it using a variety of methods, including terrestrial lidar, airborne lidar, marine echo sounding, and photogrammetry. Point cloud data can be brought into ArcGIS to visualize terrain, buildings, roads, and other features directly in 3D. It is also possible to generate new content from the point cloud data such as digital elevation models (DEMs), digital surface models (DSMs), and 3D models of features like buildings, trees, bridge surfaces, and powerlines. The extraction of features and elevation relies on the point cloud data being classified into categories that represent the different features.

Workflows

The first step in extracting information from point clouds is to assess the quality of the input data. Properties like point cloud density, noise, and overlap influence the accuracy of extraction. The ArcGIS Pro ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension comes with a set of tools that help you inspect and manage point cloud data.

The level of classification determines what information is extracted. Typically, point cloud data produced by government agencies or commercial data providers have at minimum ground classification. Depending on the features you want to extract from the lidar, you must classify the point cloud data accordingly. Geoprocessing tools leveraging rule-based classification techniques as well as deep learning approaches are available in the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension. ArcGIS Living Atlas includes pretrained models to classify trees, distribution powerlines, and poles. Since no automated classification is 100 person accurate, you can fine-tune the results using manual classification.

Once you have classified your point cloud properly, you can start to extract DEMs, and features from it. ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension provides geoprocessing tools to extract elevation, buildings, and powerline features directly from point clouds. Additionally, you can use the 3D buildings solution to follow a set of easy-to-understand tasks that help you extract elevation and features from your points clouds.

To share the extracted elevation layer on the web, you can share it from ArcGIS Pro to your active portal as a web elevation layer. Web elevation layers can supplement the default terrain web elevation layer used in Scene Viewer with higher-resolution elevation data for your area of interest. Extracted 3D features such as buildings and powerlines should be published as 3D object scene layers to your portal to ensure display performance on the web.

Considerations

Data preparation, quality, and level of classification are important to consider when extracting information from point clouds.

Required software

You need ArcGIS Pro with ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension to work with point cloud data. To leverage deep learning, you need to install supported deep learning frameworks libraries. To publish your 3D objects and elevation layers, you need an ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise publisher account.