Title: Lesson 3: Point cloud and meshes generation
Course: Photogrammetry applied to drone image acquisition > Section: Course Content

The second  step in the photogrammetry workflow is point cloud and meshes generation. Point cloud is large set of points in a coordinate system, and intended to represent the external surface of an object. This lesson will explain what the definition and the properties of the point cloud and meshes, image matching algorithm to generate the point cloud and how to assess their quality.

Introduction to the lesson:

The second  step in the photogrammetry workflow is point cloud and meshes generation. Point cloud is large set of points in a coordinate system, and intended to represent the external surface of an object. This lesson will explain what the definition and the properties of the point cloud and meshes, image matching algorithm to generate the point cloud and how to assess their quality.

Objectives:

The main objectives of this lesson are:

- To understand the definitions and the properties of  the points cloud data set
- To understand the image matching algorithms and reflect on their strength and limitations
- To apply the learned point cloud and meshes generation procedures using the designated commercial software (Pix4D) for drone images
- To assess the quality of the generated products .

Entrance requirements:

Followed the previous lesson of this course and conducted the exercises.

Learning activities:

- Study the lesson document (EENSAT_PD_L3_Point_cloud_SlidesHandout.pdf), and watch the designated links if described in the document
- Review the background literature (pages 46-47 of the Community Urban Risk Mapping Cookbook.pdf).
- Prepare exercises as described under “Tasks”

Tasks:

The task for this lesson is to conduct Practical lesson 3 (Chapter 3.3): point cloud and meshes. This task will guide you how to generate point cloud and meshes in Pix4Dmapper. Submit the answers to the questions in the “Delivery” part of the lesson to the EENSAT Education Portal.

Planned time frame for this lesson:

7 hours