Characterizing Lidar Point-Cloud Adversities Using a Vector Field Visualization

In this paper we introduce a visualization methodology to aid a human analyst in classifying adversity modes that impact lidar scan matching. Our methodology is intended for offline rather than real-time analysis. The method generates a vector-field plot that characterizes local discrepancies between a pair of registered point clouds. The vector field plot reveals patterns that would be difficult for the analyst to extract from raw point-cloud data. After introducing our methodology, we apply the process to two proof-of-concept examples: one a simulation study and the other a field experiment. For both data sets, a human analyst was able to reason about a series of adversity mechanisms and iteratively remove those mechanisms from the raw data, to help focus attention on progressively smaller discrepancies.