Development and Validation of an Openable Spherical Target System for High-Precision Registration and Georeferencing of Terrestrial Laser Scanning Point Clouds

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point clouds require high-precision registration and georeferencing to be used effectively. Only then can data from multiple stations be integrated and transformed from the instrument’s local coordinate system into a common, stable reference frame that ensures temporal consistency for further analyses of displacement and deformation. The article demonstrates the validation of an innovative referencing system devised to improve the reliability and accuracy of registering and georeferencing TLS point clouds. The primary component of the system is openable reference spheres, whose centroids can be directly and precisely determined using surveying methods. It also includes dedicated adapters: tripods and adjustable F-clamps with which the spheres can be securely mounted on various structural components, facilitating the optimal distribution of the reference markers. Laboratory tests with four modern laser scanners (Z+F Imager 5010C, Riegl VZ-400, Leica ScanStation P40, and Trimble TX8) revealed sub-millimetre accuracy of sphere fit and form errors, along with the sphere distance error within the acceptance threshold. This confirms that there are no significant systematic errors and that the system is fully compatible with various TLS technologies. The registration and georeferencing quality parameters demonstrate the system’s stability and repeatability. They were additionally verified with independent control points and geodetic levelling of the centres of the spheres. The system overcomes the critical limitations of traditional reference spheres because their centres can be measured directly using surveying methods. This facilitates registration and georeferencing accuracy on par with, or even better than, that of commercial targets. The proposed system serves as a stable and repeatable reference frame suitable for high-precision engineering applications, deformation monitoring, and longitudinal analyses.