Accuracy of the potential of spaceborne LiDAR data in estimating urban building heights in Hanoi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67484/mgc.14Keywords:
Spaceborne LiDAR, ICESat-2, GEDI, building height, 3D databases, HanoiAbstract
This study evaluates the potential of spaceborne LiDAR data from the ICESat-2 and GEDI sensor systems for the automated extraction and estimation of urban building heights in the inner wards of Hanoi, Vietnam. The proposed workflow integrates building footprint boundary data with a point-cloud noise filtering procedure to accurately classify return signals from building rooftops and reference ground surfaces. Based on an independent validation dataset consisting of 200 field-survey points, the statistical analysis indicates that GEDI full-waveform LiDAR data achieved high reliability with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.89, whereas ICESat-2 photon-counting technology demonstrated advantages in detailed along-track spatial resolution with an R² value of 0.86. The results highlight the capability of ICESat-2 and GEDI datasets to effectively supplement or partially replace conventional field-based surveying methods. This study also demonstrates strong potential for large-scale applications in optimizing urban planning, monitoring architectural development dynamics, and accelerating the development of 3D urban spatial databases in rapidly growing megacities across Vietnam.
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