Development of Standard Format for Pavement Image Data

Abstract

Because proprietary image data formats are used in the pavement industry, there is a critical need to develop a standard interchangeable format for pavement surface conditions and transverse profiles such that pavement image data from various highway agencies and technology suppliers can be shared across different analyses and software platforms. A comprehensive literature review and a survey of current practices found that two-dimensional (2D) image data compression is primarily based on JPEG and JPEG2000, whereas the three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning and imaging technology has rapidly gained popularity using various data formats and dynamic ranges. In this study, a standard data format for 2D and 3D pavement images is developed to meet different data requirements. The standard contains two parts. The first part is the core section including file header, 2D intensity data, and 3D range data, whose definitions shall not be changed as the data format standard evolves; the second part is primarily user-defined metadata, which can be extended and modified as needed to accommodate individual data collection practices and equipment. The expected benefits include facilitating workable protocols for condition surveys, improving implementation of new technologies, and accelerating the development of analysis tools for pavement condition evaluation.