Micro-topography
Definition
Small-scale (centimetre to metre) variations in ground surface height. Grave mounding, subsidence hollows, and soil-scrape scars are micro-topographic features typically invisible to standard survey but detectable in high-resolution LiDAR DTMs.
Related terms
- Bare-earth DTM
- A digital terrain model produced by filtering LiDAR returns to ground-level pulses only, removing vegetation and structure returns. The resulting surface represents...
- Ground classification
- The algorithmic process (e.g., using LAStools or PDAL) that separates ground-surface returns from non-ground returns in a LiDAR point cloud, enabling bare-earth...
- LiDAR
- Light Detection and Ranging: an active remote-sensing method that emits laser pulses and records the time-of-flight of returning echoes to produce a...
- Point cloud
- The raw data product of a LiDAR survey: a set of 3D coordinates (X, Y, Z) for each laser return, classified by...
- SfM point cloud
- A 3D point cloud derived from overlapping photographs using Structure from Motion photogrammetry. Achieves similar resolution to terrestrial LiDAR at close range...
Explained in
- LiDAR and Topographic SurveySmall-scale (centimetre to metre) variations in ground surface height. Grave mounding, subsidence hollows, and soil-scrape scars are micro-topographic features...