Modelling and monitoring urban built environment via multi-source integrated and fused remote sensing data

Investigation of urban built 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 visualisation of extensive coverage. Hyperspectral remote sensing technology is a promising and powerful tool to assess quantitative classification of urban materials by exploring possible chemical/physical changes using spectral information across the VIS-NIR-SWIR spectral region. Light Detection And Ranging (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 and LiDAR data may enlarge the application envelope of each individual technology and contribute valuable information on urban built environments and planning. A fusion process defined by a data-registration algorithm and including spectral/spatial and 3-D information is developed and presented. The proposed practical 3-D urban environment application for photogrammetric and urban planning purposes integrates the hyperspectral (spectrometer, ground camera and airborne sensor) and LiDAR data. This application may provide urban planners, civil engineers and decision-makers with tools to consider quantitative spectral information in the 3-D urban space.