Confidence in positional accuracy is a vital component of point clouds as they are often the basis for analysis and derived data products. In this context, accuracy refers to how close the measurements are to real-world values. 

Adjusting a point cloud to match the position of ground control points (GCPs) collected with a high-accuracy GPS unit or fitting it against another overlapping point cloud with an established position can help mitigate positional accuracy issues. These tools can be used seamlessly with aerial lidar, terrestrial, or photogrammetrically derived point cloud data. 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how point cloud accuracy can be measured against other datasets with known accuracy.
• Understand best practices for placing ground control points in the field.
• Understand methods for aligning overlapping point clouds.
• Understand how vertical and horizontal adjustments are made in a point cloud.