An Alternative Method to Plane Fitting: The Ensembled Plane Fitting for Geospatial Data

An Alternative Method to Plane Fitting: The Ensembled Plane Fitting for Geospatial Data

Fitting planes to three-dimensional point clouds is a common task in geospatial and geological analysis, facilitating applications such as surface modelling, geological mapping, and structural interpretation. This study evaluates and compares the traditional Least Squares Fitting (LSF) method with a novel alternative, the Ensemble Plane Fitting (EPF). This method derives a plane by averaging coefficients from all possible planes formed by triplets of points, offering a geometrically driven, non-iterative option to optimisation-based techniques like LSF.While LSF is renowned for its ability to minimise residuals, the EPF method demonstrates unique advantages. It is robust, easy to implement, and can reveal intrinsic geometric properties of the data, such as local variations and structural symmetries. The EPF method is particularly valuable in scenarios where simplicity and interpretability prioritised over strict residual minimisation.Tests based on the combined or overall RMSE (i.e., in the x, y and z direction of residuals) show that the EPF holds promises for applications in diverse contexts, including fault analysis, LiDAR point cloud processing, and the construction of digital elevation models.Its ability to handle complex datasets and maintain spatial regularity without compromising structural insights makes it a versatile tool in resource-limited and exploratory environments. These findings establish EPF as a viable alternative for geospatial and geological workflows, complementing established plane fitting techniques.