Abstract
LiDAR data enables highly accurate terrain
representations, however, various applications are hampered by
data handling efficiency; specifically lengthy processing times. To
address this, both point density reductions and the use of various
resolution grids are compared as data reduction methods to test
their effects on the accuracy and handling efficiency of the
derived Digital Elevation Model (DEM). A series of point
densities of 1%, 10%, 25%, 50% and 75% were interpolated
along a range of horizontal resolutions (1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 10-, and
30- m). Results indicate that resolution reduction provides the
most efficient DEMs in terms of their data handling. DEMs
generated at a 3 m resolution using all of the data points deviated
less than 6% from the 1mDEM100%, while significantly only taking
10% of the processing time. Resolution reduction provided
sufficient accuracies for varying terrain complexities.