Surface Noise Reduction

What is Surface Noise Reduction?

Surface Noise Reduction is a cleaning filter in Aura that smooths point cloud surfaces by reducing random noise. It can be applied during processing or after the point cloud has been generated in the Visualisation view.

The filter works by analysing small groups of nearby points and fitting a smooth surface through them. This removes roughness and irregular noise while preserving important geometric detail. An optional setting is available to limit corner rounding when sharp corners need to be maintained.

The image below shows the effect of Surface Noise Reduction. White points represent the original data with the filter disabled, and red points show the result with the filter enabled. This highlights how the filter removes small irregularities and produces a smoother, cleaner output while preserving the underlying structure.

 

Using Surface Noise Reduction produces cleaner and easier to interpret point clouds. It reduces manual cleanup, supports more accurate measurements and CAD linework, and can improve colorization results when used before the colorization step.

 

Performance depends on point density. Dense indoor scans usually work best with the Low setting, while outdoor or lower density scans may benefit from Medium or High. The filter does not affect accuracy except at very sharp corners, which can be protected with the corner rounding option.

When merging datasets, it is best to apply Surface Noise Reduction after the merge as filtering applied to individual scans pre-merge is not carried through to the post-merge output. In GCP workflows, it is applied both before and after GCP correction.

 

How to apply Surface Noise Reduction

Surface Noise Reduction can be applied either during processing or after the point cloud has been generated. Applying it during processing saves time by producing a smoother result straight away, while applying it after processing gives you more control and lets you preview the effect before committing to changes. The steps below outline both methods so you can choose the approach that best suits your workflow.

 

Option 1: Apply during processing

Surface Noise Reduction is enabled by default for non-mining scan environments, with Low set as the default level. You can adjust this in the processing settings before running your scan.

1. Load your scan using the standard processing workflow

2. Open Processing Settings

3. Scroll to the Surface Noise Reduction section

4. Choose the smoothing level you want to apply

1. • (see the Processing Settings for guidance on Low, Medium and High options)

1. • (optional) Use Limit corner rounding to keep corners sharp. This can add more noise at corners.

   5. Complete standard processing workflow and review results.

Option 2: Apply after processing

1. Load a processed point cloud in the Visualisation view
2. Open the Filtering tools
3. Select Surface Noise Reduction

4. Choose the smoothing level you want to apply

(see the Processing Settings for guidance on Low, Medium and High options)

5. Wait for filtering to complete and review the results