Development of a Low-Cost LiDAR-Based Vehicle-Mounted MMS for Road Snow Monitoring in Winter Conditions
Kazuyoshi Takahashi(a*),Takeshi Nakamura(a)

a)Nagaoka University of Technology,1603-1,Kamitomioka,Nagaoka,Niigata,Japan

Abstract

Vehicle-mounted mobile mapping systems (MMSs) offer an efficient means of acquiring geospatial information over wide areas. In particular, they are increasingly used in road management for three-dimensional mapping of pavement surfaces and roadside features. While commercial high-performance MMSs are effective for large-scale surveys and detailed infrastructure modeling, their precision and cost often exceed the requirements of many practical applications. For instance, in scenarios such as post-disaster damage location mapping, simple road surface inspection, or documenting the current status of roadside assets for local governments, it is often sufficient to capture approximate shapes and positions. In such cases, commercial MMSs tend to provide excessive capabilities, and instead, low cost and portability become more valuable. Lowering the cost of MMSs can create new opportunities for municipalities and small businesses to collect geospatial data on their own, thereby promoting spatial data utilization and contributing to local problem-solving and value creation. This study presents the development of a low-cost LiDAR-based vehicle-mounted MMS for monitoring road snow conditions in winter. The system is built using an affordable commercial LiDAR sensor (Livox Mid-360) and a GNSS/INS unit (Bynav X1-5H). We introduce a newly implemented boresight calibration method that eliminates the need for physical targets, enabling efficient setup even under harsh weather. Preliminary results from pilot runs on snow-covered roads demonstrate that the system can acquire usable point clouds through intermittent operation during winter fieldwork.

Keywords: geospatial data acquisition, snow-cover, mapping,point cloud

Topic: Topic B: Applications of Remote Sensing