The distribution of land cover has an important impact on climate, environment, and public policy planning. The Optech Titan multispectral LiDAR system provides new opportunities and challenges for land cover classification, but the better application of spectral and spatial information of multispectral LiDAR data is a problem to be solved. Therefore, we propose a land cover classification method based on multi-scale spatial and spectral feature selection. The public data set of Tobermory Port collected by the Optech Titan multispectral airborne laser scanner was used as research data, and the data was manually divided into eight categories. The method flow is divided into four steps: neighborhood point selection, spatial–spectral feature extraction, feature selection, and classification. First, the K-nearest neighborhood is used to select the neighborhood points for the multispectral LiDAR point cloud data. Additionally, the spatial and spectral features under the multi-scale neighborhood (K = 20, 50, 100, 150) are extracted. The Equalizer Optimization algorithm is used to perform feature selection on multi-scale neighborhood spatial–spectral features, and a feature subset is obtained. Finally, the feature subset is input into the support vector machine (SVM) classifier for training. Using only small training samples (about 0.5% of the total data) to train the SVM classifier, 91.99% overall accuracy (OA), 93.41% average accuracy (AA) and 0.89 kappa coefficient were obtained in study area. Compared with the original information’s classification result, the OA, AA and kappa coefficient increased by 15.66%, 8.7% and 0.19, respectively. The results show that the constructed spatial–spectral features and the application of the Equalizer Optimization algorithm for feature selection are effective in land cover classification with Titan multispectral LiDAR point data.

Lidar can effectively obtain three-dimensional information on ground objects. In recent years, lidar has developed rapidly from single-wavelength to multispectral hyperspectral imaging. The multispectral airborne lidar Optech Titan is the first commercial system that can collect point cloud data on 1550, 1064, and 532 nm channels. This study proposes a method of point cloud segmentation in the preprocessed intensity interpolation process to solve the problem of inaccurate intensity at the boundary during point cloud interpolation. The entire experiment consists of three steps. First, a multispectral lidar point cloud is obtained using point cloud segmentation and intensity interpolation; the spatial dimension advantage of the multispectral point cloud is used to improve the accuracy of spectral information interpolation. Second, point clouds are divided into eight categories by constructing geometric information, spectral reflectance information, and spectral characteristics. Accuracy evaluation and contribution analysis are also conducted through point cloud truth value and classification results. Lastly, the spatial dimension information is enhanced by point cloud drop sampling, the method is used to solve the error caused by airborne scanning and single-tree extraction of urban trees. Classification results showed that point cloud segmentation before intensity interpolation can effectively improve the interpolation and classification accuracies. The total classification accuracy of the data is improved by 3.7%. Compared with the extraction result (377) of single wood without subsampling treatment, the result of the urban tree extraction proved the effectiveness of the proposed method with a subsampling algorithm in improving the accuracy. Accordingly, the problem of over-segmentation is solved, and the final single-wood extraction result (329) is markedly consistent with the real situation of the region.

High-quality multispectral LiDAR (MSL) data are crucial for land cover (LC) classification. However, the Titan MSL system encounters challenges of inconsistent spatial–spectral information due to its unique scanning and data saving method, restricting subsequent classification accuracy. Existing spectral reconstruction methods often require empirical parameter settings and involve high computational costs, limiting automation and complicating application. To address this problem, we introduce the dual attention spectral optimization reconstruction network (DossaNet), leveraging an attention mechanism and spatial–spectral information. DossaNet can adaptively adjust weight parameters, streamline the multispectral point cloud acquisition process, and integrate it into classification models end-to-end. The experimental results show the following: (1) DossaNet exhibits excellent generalizability, effectively recovering accurate LC spectra and improving classification accuracy. Metrics across the six classification models show some improvements. (2) Compared with the method lacking spectral reconstruction, DossaNet can improve the overall accuracy (OA) and average accuracy (AA) of PointNet++ and RandLA-Net by a maximum of 4.8%, 4.47%, 5.93%, and 2.32%. Compared with the inverse distance weighted (IDW) and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) approach, DossaNet can improve the OA and AA of PointNet++ and DGCNN by a maximum of 1.33%, 2.32%, 0.86%, and 2.08% (IDW) and 1.73%, 3.58%, 0.28%, and 2.93% (KNN). The findings further validate the effectiveness of our proposed method. This method provides a more efficient and simplified approach to enhancing the quality of multispectral point cloud data.

Airborne hyperspectral LiDAR (AHSL) is a technology that integrates the spectral content collected using hyperspectral imaging and the precise 3D descriptions of observed objects obtained using LiDAR (light detection and ranging). AHSL detects the spectral and three-dimensional (3D) information on an object simply using laser measurements. Nevertheless, the advantageous richness of spectral properties also introduces novel issues into the scan unit, the mechanical–optical trade-off. Specifically, the abundant spectral information requires a larger optical aperture, limiting the acceptance of the mechanic load by the scan unit at a demanding rotation speed and flight height. Via the simulation and analysis of scan models, it is exhibited that Palmer scans fit the large optical aperture required by AHSL best. Furthermore, based on the simulation of the Palmer scan model, 45.23% is explored as the optimized ratio of overlap (ROP) for minimizing the diversity of the point density, with a reduction in the coefficient of variation (CV) from 0.47 to 0.19. The other issue is that it is intricate to calibrate the scanning geometry using outside devices due to the complex optical path. A self-calibration strategy is proposed for tackling this problem, which integrates indoor laser vector retrieval and airborne orientation correction. The strategy is composed of the following three improvements: (1) A self-determined laser vector retrieval strategy that utilizes the self-ranging feature of AHSL itself is proposed for retrieving the initial scanning laser vectors with a precision of 0.874 mrad. (2) A linear residual estimated interpolation method (LREI) is proposed for enhancing the precision of the interpolation, reducing the RMSE from 1.517 mrad to 0.977 mrad. Compared to the linear interpolation method, LREI maintains the geometric features of Palmer scanning traces. (3) A least-deviated flatness restricted optimization (LDFO) algorithm is used to calibrate the angle offset in aerial scanning point cloud data, which reduces the standard deviation in the flatness of the scanning plane from 1.389 m to 0.241 m and reduces the distortion of the scanning strip. This study provides a practical scanning method and a corresponding calibration strategy for AHSL.

Hyperspectral imaging technology are widely used in vegetation, agriculture, and other fields, especially in land cover classification of complex scenes. Higher spectral resolution has become the focus of the development of hyperspectral imaging technology for classification. The advent of airborne AISAIBIS sensor reaches 0.11nm ultra-hyperspectral resolution. The ultra-hyperspectral imagery shows great advantages in classification with its increasing spectral resolution. But its spatial resolution is limited because of the imaging mechanism, which brings great difficulties to the accurate extract of fine and regular objects. Therefore, we proposed an optimal fusion and classification strategy based on the complementary advantage information of ultra-hyperspectral and high spatial resolution image. The fusion feasibility and effectiveness were verified by various fusion methods. And a quality evaluation system was developed to assess the quality of fusion results. Besides, a multiresolution segmentation optimization and classification evaluation scheme was proposed to comparatively analyze the effect of optimal fusion result on improving classification accuracy. Results show that the classification accuracy of the optimal fused image reaches 88.10%, and 7.11%-19.03% higher than that of original images. It fully validates the effectiveness of the strategy proposed in this study.