LiDAR quality assurance tool (2.09)
The Inter-governmental Committee on Survey and Mapping (ICSM) recognised the need for standardisation of the acquisition of elevation data, particularly LiDAR, and produced the ICSM LiDAR Acquisition Specifications and Tender Template (ICSM Tender) in Nov 2010.
Part of the acquisition template includes quality control standards to be employed by LiDAR acquisition companies. However, it is difficult for those agencies using the ICSM template to assess data provided by LiDAR companies against these specifications.
It is therefore important to have an independent checking mechanism available that can be performed on the supplied LiDAR data upon delivery to the contracting agency in an effective and efficient manner.
This Project will develop a standard (ICSM supported) LiDAR Quality Assurance procedure to complement the ICSM LiDAR Acquisition Specifications and Tender Template. This procedure will leverage existing tools within esri ArcGIS.
The procedure will involve users selecting the checks to be performed and allowing the tool within esri ArcGIS to perform the relevant checks and produce a standard QA report. The tool will also be able to quality assure other datasets which comply with the formats specified within the ICSM template, and will be accompanied by a set of guidelines for undertaking QA independent of the software used for this project.
Highlight: ComQAT
The team is developing ComQAT: a Compliance and Quality Assurance Tool for elevation data. Forms have been created to allow the tool to automatically extract the project specifications and results. The first of these is the condensed version of the ICSM Template, known as the "Tender Form", to be filled in by the contracting agency. The second is the condensed version of the final project report known as the "Report Form" to be filled in by the LiDAR provider.
The tool initiation screen has been developed as a wizard driven interface. This allows the user to set up the project, including identifying which checks to perform and where their data is located. The "user-input" checks are nearly complete, including checking the file naming convention and ensuring spatial data are not corrupt. Work on the "automated" checks will commence shortly (to be completed in 2013), followed by development of the "visual" checks interface. Beta testing will be in mid-2013, with delivery of the final tool and supporting documentation shortly thereafter.
The Project will deliver an easy to use software procedure, represented by a tool within ArcGIS, which enables the independent QA of LiDAR data in accordance with the ICSM Tender.
Participants
Landgate - DSE Vic - Queensland Government - LPI NSW - GA