Extraction of boundaries of rooftop fenced buildings from airborne laser scanning data using rectangle models

We propose a building boundary modeling method using rectangles to overcome the zigzag boundary shapes of rooftop fenced buildings that are inherent in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The method first finds 3-D patches through building detection using a morphological opening filter and histogram mode analysis. Then, rectangles that encase the traced boundaries of the 3-D patches are adjusted adaptively based on traced boundary coordinates and perpendicular constraints among the sides of the rectangles. The boundary of each 3-D patch is remodeled by subtracting void region rectangles from the parent rectangle. The superstructures of rooftops are also modeled with perpendicularity and adaptive constraints.