Structural data acquisition in a cave using smartphone LiDAR and Virtual Compass

Abstract

Three‐dimensional (3D) modeling has become a preferred approach for acquiring high‐accuracy spatial data efficiently. While terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) delivers high‐quality point clouds, its cost often motivates the search for affordable alternatives. In structural geology, robust rock‐mass characterization requires geometric information from both intact rock and its discontinuities; point‐cloud–based surface analysis enables estimation of key parameters such as dip and dip direction. Recent smartphones equipped with LiDAR sensors offer a low‐cost means to obtain 3D point clouds suitable for such analyses. This study evaluates the capability of an iPhone Pro LiDAR scanner to acquire structural data from planar features inside a cave in southern part of Macedonia and compares the results with conventional compass measurements. It represents the next step in verification of this methodology, previously performed on various outcrops in Macedonia. The 3D point clouds were processed in CloudCompare software, and structural orientations were derived using its Virtual Compass tool. The smartphone‐based measurements on a 3D point cloud using Virtual Compass, show a highly promising agreement with the geological compass data, indicating that mobile LiDAR can provide a reliable and efficient complement to traditional field methods for cave environments and similarly constrained settings.