Fusion of optical and thermal imagery and lidar data for application to 3-D urban environment pattern recognition applications in remotely sensed hyperspectral image analysis

Investigation of urban environment includes a wide range of applications that require 3-D information. New approaches are needed for near-real-time analysis of the urban environment with natural 3-D visualization of extensive coverage. The remote sensing technology is a promising and powerful tool to assess quantitative information of urban materials and structures. This technique provides ability for easy, rapid and accurate in situ assessment of corrosion, deformations and ageing processes in the spatial (2-D) and the spectral domain within near-real-time and with high temporal resolution. LiDAR technology offers precise information about the geometrical properties of the surfaces and can reflect the different shapes and formations in the complex urban environment. Generating a monitoring system that is based on integrative fusion of hyperspectral, thermal and LiDAR data may enlarge the application envelope of each individual technology and contribute valuable information on the built urban environment. A fusion process defined by a data-registration algorithm and including spectral/thermal/spatial and 3-D information has been developed. The proposed practical 3-D urban environment application may provide urban planners, civil engineers and decision-makers with tools to consider temporal, quantitative and thermal spectral information in the 3-D urban space.