Analysis of the backscattered energy in terrestrial laser scanning data

Terrestrial laser scanning provides a point cloud, but usually also the “intensity” values are available. These values are mainly influenced by the distance from sensor to object and by the object’s reflection properties. We demonstrate that it is possible to retrieve these reflection properties from the observed range and the intensity value. An experiment with targets of known reflectivity behaviour is described. Retrieving object reflectivity is also demonstrated for these targets in another experiment, which was not used to determine the functional relationship between range, reflectivity, and intensity. The Lidar equation describes the received optical power in terms of the emitted power, range, and…