A General Framework for 3-D Parameters Estimation of Roads Using GPS, OSM and DEM Data

Sensors (Basel). 2017 Dec 25;18(1):41. doi: 10.3390/s18010041.

Abstract

A growing number of applications needs GIS mapping information and commercial 3-D roadmaps especially. This paper presents a solution of accessing freely to 3-D map information and updating in the context of transport applications. The method relies on the OSM road networks that is 2-D modeled intrinsically. The objective is to estimate the road elevation and inclination parameters by fusing GPS, OSM and DEM data through a nonlinear filter. An experimental framework, using ASTER GDEM2 data, shows some results of the improvement of the roads modeling that includes their slopes also. The map database can be enriched with the estimated inclinations. The accuracy depends on the GPS and DEM elevation errors (typically a few meters with the GNSS sensors used and the DEM under consideration).

Keywords: GNSS-based navigation; digital elevation models; digital road maps; land-vehicle localization; multi-sensor fusion; non-linear filtering.