Influence of incident angle and laser footprint on precision and level of detail in terrestrial laser scanner measurements

Terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) are used for a variety of applications, e.g., surveying, forestry, cultural heritage preservation, mining, topographic mapping, urban planning, forensics etc. This technology has made a huge shift in 3D spatial data collection due to much faster speed compared to other techniques. In the absence of guiding principles for positioning TLS relative to an object, surveyors collect data at maximum arrangements of scanning geometry elements due to fear of incomplete data of TLS. In 3D spatial data acquisition, positional accuracy and Level of Detail (LOD) are major considerations and are dependent on laser incident angle, footprint size, range and resolution. Mathematical models have been developed relating range, incident angle and laser footprint size for different surface configurations. These models can be used to position TLS to collect data at required positional accuracy and LOD. Models have been verified by deriving one model from other surface models by changing parameters. Effects of incident angle and footprint size have been studied mathematically and experimentally on a natural sloping surface. From the results, surveyors can plan the positioning of the scanner so that data is collected at the required accuracy and LOD.