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Review
. 2018 May 21;18(5):1641.
doi: 10.3390/s18051641.

Registration of Laser Scanning Point Clouds: A Review

Liang Cheng  1   2   3   4 , Song Chen  5   6   7 , Xiaoqiang Liu  8   9   10 , Hao Xu  11   12   13 , Yang Wu  14   15   16 , Manchun Li  17   18   19   20 , Yanming Chen  21   22   23   24
Affiliations
Review

Registration of Laser Scanning Point Clouds: A Review

Liang Cheng et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

The integration of multi-platform, multi-angle, and multi-temporal LiDAR data has become important for geospatial data applications. This paper presents a comprehensive review of LiDAR data registration in the fields of photogrammetry and remote sensing. At present, a coarse-to-fine registration strategy is commonly used for LiDAR point clouds registration. The coarse registration method is first used to achieve a good initial position, based on which registration is then refined utilizing the fine registration method. According to the coarse-to-fine framework, this paper reviews current registration methods and their methodologies, and identifies important differences between them. The lack of standard data and unified evaluation systems is identified as a factor limiting objective comparison of different methods. The paper also describes the most commonly-used point cloud registration error analysis methods. Finally, avenues for future work on LiDAR data registration in terms of applications, data, and technology are discussed. In particular, there is a need to address registration of multi-angle and multi-scale data from various newly available types of LiDAR hardware, which will play an important role in diverse applications such as forest resource surveys, urban energy use, cultural heritage protection, and unmanned vehicles.

Keywords: coarse-to-fine strategy; laser scanning; point clouds; registration; review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Publication statistics; and (b) cloud map of high-frequency terms used in LiDAR-related publications (2000–2016). (Source: Scopus Database).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of different types of publications on LiDAR (2000–2016). (Source: Scopus database).
Figure 3
Figure 3
LiDAR registration-related publications in different journals (2000–2016). (Source: Scopus Database)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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