Building Detection

Menu: Analyze / Buildings

The Building Classification tool identifies vertical surfaces in the point cloud and classifies them as Class 6 (Buildings), following ASPRS standards.

This algorithm is best suited for ground-based LiDAR scans (terrestrial or mobile scanning) since walls appear vertical in such datasets. Aerial surveys, which primarily capture rooftops, are not well-suited for this algorithm.

1. Building Classification Settings

Slope Tolerance (in degrees)

• Defines the maximum surface angle deviation allowed in a cell.

• Higher values allow rougher surfaces to be classified as walls but may introduce errors.

Minimum Cell Size (in distance units)

• Defines the grid size for processing.

• Smaller values increase classification accuracy but increase processing time.

• The cell size must be smaller than the project cell size, or else the default project cell size will be used instead.

  • Project cell size information is available in File → Project Info.

Distance Tolerance (in distance units)

• Defines the maximum distance a point can be from the mean plane of a wall to be classified as a building.

• A smaller tolerance ensures better accuracy but may exclude some building points.

2. Processing Area Limitations

Starting Point

• Defines the initial point for classification.

• Can be:

  • Manually set by entering coordinates.

  • Picked from the point cloud using the "Pick" button.

• For best performance, select a known building point to reduce processing time.

• If Limit by Radius is enabled, classification will be centered around this point.

Limit by Radius (in distance units)

• Restricts processing to a circular area centered on the starting point.

• Useful for testing parameter settings or processing specific areas separately.