Analysis of ground calibration of ranging errors for a single aerial lidar instrument

Abstract

In this paper, the ranging procedure and working principle of LiDAR were introduced. By analyzing the principle, it is found that related methods can cause time delay error and ranging error for different ground targets. Then, elements affecting LiDAR ranging precision were analyzed, and experimental results proved that un-calibrated ranging error can reach one meter for the targets one hundred meters away, which cannot satisfy the requirements of practical applications. Thus, ground calibration techniques of airborne LiDAR were analyzed, and the elements affecting LiDAR ranging precision are classified into three classes. Correspondingly, an equation was proposed to express the influences of ranging errors, a ground calibration scheme was designed for single LiDAR, and a solution method to the parameters was given. Experiments were done on a China-made LiDAR system, and experimental parameters proved that gray level had some influence on ranging values, with the range difference of different gray boards reaching centimeter level. Meanwhile, LiDARs with different parameter settings can also affect ranging values. However, due to the imprecise experiment process, the additive constant and scale constant were not obvious in the experiments, and the experiment needs improving in the future.