Improved progressive TIN densification filtering algorithm for airborne LiDAR data in forested areas

Filtering of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data into the ground and non-ground points is a fundamental step in processing raw airborne LiDAR data. This paper proposes an improved progressive triangulated irregular network (TIN) densification (IPTD) filtering algorithm that can cope with a variety of forested landscapes, particularly both topographically and environmentally complex regions. The IPTD filtering algorithm consists of three steps: (1) acquiring potential ground seed points using the morphological method; (2) obtaining accurate ground seed points; and (3) building a TIN-based model and iteratively densifying TIN. The IPTD filtering algorithm was tested in 15 forested sites with various terrains (i.e., elevation and slope) and vegetation conditions (i.e., canopy cover and tree height), and was compared with seven other commonly used filtering algorithms (including morphology-based, slope-based, and interpolation-based filtering algorithms). Results show that the IPTD achieves the highest filtering accuracy for nine of the 15 sites. In general, it outperforms the other filtering algorithms, yielding the lowest average total error of 3.15% and the highest average kappa coefficient of 89.53%.