Methods for evaluating the resolution of 3D data derived from satellite images

TL;DR

This paper reviews methods for assessing the resolution of satellite-derived 3D data, providing tools and workflows for automated evaluation against high-resolution lidar references, aiding in quality assessment and improvement tracking.

Contribution

It introduces new evaluation tools and workflows for measuring the resolution of satellite-derived 3D data using high-resolution lidar references.

Findings

Effective automated evaluation workflows developed

Analysis results demonstrate variability in data quality

Tools enable large-scale resolution assessment

Abstract

3D data derived from satellite images is essential for scene modeling applications requiring large-scale coverage or involving locations not accessible by airborne lidar or cameras. Measuring the resolution of this data is important for determining mission utility and tracking improvements. In this work, we consider methods to evaluate the resolution of point clouds, digital surface models, and 3D mesh models. We describe 3D metric evaluation tools and workflows that enable automated evaluation based on high-resolution reference airborne lidar, and we present results of analyses with data of varying quality.