Gisat eCognition Day, Prague

September 26, 2013

Trimble
©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited
 eCognition technology in a nutshell

©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited

 Object Based Image Analysis

Why do we see what we see?

Building

Human Visual Perception

● Analyzes groups of pixels Terrace People

● Incorporates context Tile Seam Head Body

● Works on multiple scales

 So does Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA)

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 eCognition in a nutshell

Controlled with Rule Set

Segmentation Classification Context Abstraction
Result

Input Raster

Raster
Vector

Vector Point
cloud
Point
cloud Report

• fuses raster, vector and point cloud data stacks

• uses pixels, objects and object networks
• leverages context rules to achieve greater result accuracy
• knowledge-based, sample-based, machine learning
• enables 2D, 3D and time series data analysis
• various export options: raster, vector, report, las
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 Core Technology Components

Hierarchical Network Rule Set in CNL

Object Attributes (Cognition Network Language)
of Objects

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 eCognition LiDAR Project Examples

©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited

GeoInfo – Buildings & Vegetation

 Uses
– legislative duties
– planning purposes
– change detection
 Data
– Digital Ortho Photos
– Digital Terrain Model
– Digital Surface
Model
Lagen Spatial – Automated Land Cover Mapping

 Lagen Spatial – Automated

Land Cover Mapping
 Application for Local
Government
 Generated GIS Layers
– Building Footprint
– Pervious / Impervious Land
Cover
– Sealed / Unsealed Roads
– Vegetation Identification
– Parks
– Water / Dams
– Building Heights
Infoterra - Land Base
 Land cover vector map
 Framework for use within a GIS
system
– Provides unrivalled land cover
resolution—to property
level/1:5000 scale
– Enables creation of custom
solutions to enable higher
level analysis
– Compatible with existing land
cover products
– Allows 3D analysis as height
information built-in
– Enables cost effective thematic
mapping
– Allows spatial analysis of
specified area
USFS / UVM – Urban Tree Canopy Assessment

 Urban tree canopy (UTC)

assessment
 In use by several major US
cities to establish their tree
canopy goals
 Based on LiDAR in
combination with CIR data,
the application measures:
– amount of tree canopy that
currently exists
– amount that could exist
– Power lines are
automatically masked out
to not interfere with
vegetation
Woolpert – Impervious Surface
 Imagery Programs:
– Ohio Statewide 105,000km2
– Indiana Statewide
96,000km2
– Florida Statewide
150,000km2
– 30cm & 15cm Resolution
– True / False Color IR
– LiDAR
 Products:
– ―Statewide‖ value added
datasets
– Impervious/Pervious
features
– Agricultural Use Analysis
Blom – Urban Trees
 Goal- Delineation of
individual trees from laser
data
 Data
– Laser data for tree crown
delineation (> 2 point / m2)
– Images for tree species
classification
 Results - per tree
 Position (x,y)
 Height
 Crown diameter
 Tree species (from
images)
Feature extraction Example
Buildings & Vegetation
Input Data & Objectives

Digital Orthofotos Digital terrain model Digital surface model

(RGB+NIR; 0,15 cm; Austrian Sheet (1 m)
Line: 8340x6673 pxl)
based on LiDAR (1 m)
Results
Accuracy
 94,3 % for Buildings
 96,1 % for Vegetation
– Verification area: ca 200 km²;
– Accuracy is the measure of
"true" findings (true-positive +
true negative) divided by all
test results
 Applied on 60.000 sheet
lines (Austrian Map)
 Forest Stand Delineation

• Features
● Automatic generation of DSM, DTM and
nDSM from LiDAR point cloud
● Automatic delineation of forest stands
based on single tree heights
● Removal of “irregular” shapes (area,
width)
• Reference
● Leading Edge Geomatics (LEGeo)
• Input Data
● LiDAR point cloud (15 pts/m²)
• Output
● Ground
Forest
0m-5m
● 5 m - 10 m

● Height based forest stands 10 m - 15 m

15 m - 20 m

Benefits
Ground
•
● No preceeding ground/non ground
classification needed
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 Tree Crown Delineation - LiDAR

Tree crown delineation

 LIDAR
 Resolution 1.0 m

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 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment – LiDAR

 Assessment of existing
and potential urban
tree canopy
 LiDAR + CIR
 Resolution: 1 m

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 Estimation of Tree Crown Volume – LiDAR

 Crown delineation and

volume estimation
 LiDAR
 Resolution: 0.2 m

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 Vegetation around powerlines

• Goal
● Mapping the trees and shrubs near powerlines

• Data
● Laser data for vegetation heights (> 1 point / m2)
● Vector map with powerlines
● Buffer around powerlines
● Vector map with buildings

• Results
● Vegetation in the height classes (e.g. ≥ 2.5 m)
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 Vegetation around powerlines

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 Powerlines

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 Powerlines + buffer

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 Powerlines + buffer

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 nDSM

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 Vegetation > 2.5 meter

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 Vegetation > 2.5 meter

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 Vegetation > 2.5 meter

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 Vegetation around powerlines

• Strategy of eCognition rule set

● Contrast split segmentation
● Removal of hits on wires and other non-vegetation objects

• Low voltage powerlines (isolated)

● Several projects on low voltage powerlines
● 500 to 1000 km powerline per municipality
● Projects are based on existing LiDAR data

• Pilot on high voltage powerlines

● Distance of the wire to the ground
● Distance of the vegetation to the wire
● Vegetation height maps

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 Building Changes on Cadastral Maps

• Features
● Automatic detection of differences/ changes
between cadastral buildings and “reality”
● GUI for calibration of automatic processing

©GeoBasis-DE/LVermGeoRP2011-08-31
● GUI for guided visual result validation
• Reference
● Landesamt für Vermessung und
Geobasisinformation, Rheinland-Pfalz,
Germany
• Input Data
● Ortho photos (RGB + NIR, 0.2 m)
● DSM + DTM (1 m) from LiDAR
● Building outlines
• Output
● New buildings
● Disappeared buildings
● Changed buildings
• Remarks ©GeoBasis-DE/LVermGeoRP2011-08-31

● Successfully tested on different data sources

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Trees, Buildings, Powerline Corridors from LiDAR point
clouds
 LiDAR .las files
– ALS point cloud, ~ 50 points per m²
– Non-filtered point clouds
– Filtered point clouds (ground, DEM) not used for this study
 Orthophotos
– RGB
– 0.1 m ground resolution

3D visualization of point cloud subset

RGB orthophoto subset

Data Import Automation
Automatically created
Consistent data structure Customized
projects in eCognition
on file repository Import
Workspace

001

002

003
Data Import Automation cont.
Elevation Model Derivation
 General Workflow
– From the original, unclassified point cloud, surface and elevation models are derived
– DEM and DSM are used to create a normalized surface model (nDSM)
– Heights above ground for elevated objects are then used in subsequent analysis steps

high

low
Digital Surface Model (DSM)

Normalized Digital Surface Model (nDSM)

Point Cloud
Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
Elevation Model Derivation
 Ground point classification
– Classification of ground points based on
exclusion of elevated objects (strong
elevation edges)

3D visualization of point cloud subset (002_org.las)

[points representing ground in pink]
 Elevation Model Derivation
 DEM creation
– DEM generated using eCognition's "Fill
Pixel" inverse distance weighted
interpolation

Ground points of point cloud subset (002_org.las)

Digital elevation model (DEM), 0.1 m ground resolution
 Elevation Model Derivation
 DSM creation
- Digital surface model (DSM) created from
maximum elevations of non-ground points
followed by interpolation

Surface points of point cloud subset (002_org.las)

Digital surface model (DSM), 0.1 m ground resolution

Elevation Model Derivation
 nDSM calculation
– Difference layer providing height above ground information
– Slope and Aspect are available as standard procedures as well

Original elevation point cloud subset (002_org.las) Normalized elevation point cloud subset for nDSM
Buildings
 General idea
– Use case investigated: Building roof footprint using the original, unfiltered point
cloud plus nDSM derived from that
– General processing steps: Generalization of nDSM layer – find elevation edges –
segmentation – classification of elevated objects – exclusion of powerlines –
exclusion of elevated vegetation – building seed classification and refinement –
generalize building shape
 Buildings

nDSM nDSM generalized Elevation edges

Segmentation Elevated objects classification Power lines exclusion

Elevated vegetation exclusion Building seed classification Building shape generalization

Powerlines
 General idea
– Use case investigated: Powerline corridor delineation from LAS point cloud and
nDSM
– RGB image only used for visualization
– General processing steps: Elevation edge / line detection on nDSM – classification
of potential powerline fragments – exclusion of non-linear / otherwise unlikely
powerline fragments – designation of generalized powerline corridor
 Powerlines

RGB image for visualization nDSM from point cloud Line / elevation edge detection

Potential powerline fragments Generalized powerline corridor

Elevated Vegetation / Trees
 General idea
– Use case investigated: Elevated vegetation and individual tree delineation from
LAS point cloud and nDSM
– RGB image only used for visualization
– General processing steps: Shadow classification – vegetation classification –
elevation model optimized segmentation – designation of individual tree seeds –
tree seed growing to individual tree footprints
 Elevated Vegetation / Trees

RGB for visualization nDSM from point cloud nDSM generalized

Elevation model optimized segmentation Designation of indidual tree seeds Grow to individual tree crown outline
 Point Cloud Processing in eCognition

©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited

 Object Based Point Cloud Analysis

• Point Cloud handling

 Adapt point cloud raster resolution and extent
 Virtually merge multiple point clouds

• Point Cloud features and algorithms

 Extended descriptive objects and scene statistics
 Extended point cloud filtering parameters

Quantile 10 Mean/Mode Quantile 90

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 Workflow Example

Object Based Point Cloud Analysis

Workflow integration
● Load point clouds in *.las format
2D Segments
● Export classified point clouds in
*.las format
Selective 3D
● Combine 2D segments with 3D
statistical attributes 3D Points
● Derive information directly from
the point cloud
Streamlined analysis
● Directly combine raster imagery
3D Attributes
and point cloud information
● Integrate vector, raster and point
cloud data

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 Workflow Example

Object Based Point Cloud Analysis

Point Cloud Features are descriptive structure statistics for
Objects calculated from x/y, Intensity and Elevation information
from the Points

Return
Pulse
Object

Returns
Specifies which points
should be used for
calculation

All Returns First Returns Last Returns

Modes
Specifies which
algorithm should be Average, Standard Deviation, Minimum, Maximum, Median, Mode
used for calculation

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 Workflow Example

Object Based Point Cloud Analysis

Trimble Harrier System
• Combines a wide-angle full waveform digitization laser scanner with a Trimble
Aerial Camera (TAC)
• TAC = compact, high-performance 80 MP medium format aerial camera,
trouble-free operation, and advanced features such as forward motion
compensation
 System for corridor mapping and aerial survey

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 Workflow Example

Object Based Point Cloud Analysis

Trimble Harrier
System (Simultaneous
airborne imaging and
laser scanning)

Create objects on
image information

Classify objects on
point cloud features
(a) Elevated
Vegetation =
multiple-return
pulses
(b) Vegetation height
= max first return
– min last return

 Directly combine
raster imagery and
point cloud
information
 Derive information
directly from the point
cloud
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 Land Mobile Feature Extraction I

• “Top Down” and “Camera View” analysis

 Extended capabilities for mobile terrestrial systems (i.e. MX8)
 Perspectives for horizontal and vertical Feature extraction

Top Down View

Camera View

Classification

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 Land Mobile Feature Extraction II

• 3D Export
 3D line extraction from classified
point clouds
 Export point clouds in Trident LAS
2.0 format

• Trident Analyst support

 Create eCognition projects based on
Trident data sets
 Load point clouds in Trident LAS 2.0
format

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 Application Example

Trimble MX8
• Vehicle-mounted system
• Combines a dual laser scanner
with multiple cameras
 System for mobile mapping

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 Application Example

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 Application Example

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 Thank You

©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited