Building Information Modeling for a Smart and Sustainable Urban Space

7Semantic Segmentation of Airborne LiDAR Data for the Development of an Urban 3D Model

7.1. Introduction

In a context marked by urban sprawl, climate change, environmental degradation and resource depletion, cities are facing numerous issues. Monitoring urban dynamics, planning and management of urban spaces, environmental and climate studies are all issues that cities of the future must face in order to meet the needs of sustainable development.

3D modeling of urban spaces has become an increasingly common research and development topic. It is positioned as an essential method for the development of smart cities. The development of 3D digital models has the potential to meet the requirements of planning, monitoring and management of urban dynamics (Xiu et al. 2018). The urban 3D model allows not only the representation and 3D visualization of the urban space, but also a rich semantic modeling to accomplish several spatial and thematic analyses. 3D urban models appear as a potential solution that goes beyond the current limits of GIS models, which places them at the forefront of new needs in urban management.

The development of a 3D urban model requires a detailed 3D survey of the urban space. Airborne LiDAR is widely used for this purpose. It provides geometric and radiometric information of objects in the form of point clouds. This acquisition system provides a large amount of accurate data with a very high level of detail, reliably and quickly. However, the transition from ...