obtaining building height data

Question

I have a shapefile containing building shapes and sizes, I have an airphoto for the same area and a DEM. I wonder if I may use these data to extract the height data of the buildings in the area? Also, is there a simple technique that may be used to extract building height information from google earth?

Thanks.

Peng

SepheFox · Accepted Answer

Hi Peng, I don't think you can do this in ArcGIS with the data you have, unless the shapefile contains building heights. Of course then you wouldn't be looking for a way to obtain the heights! 
 You would need liDAR data that contains both the bare earth layer (or last returns, similar to your DEM) and the first returns layer (which is the top of buildings or trees. You can then subtract the last returns from the first returns and get the difference. It would also be possible to do from the airphoto, either manually, or perhaps using google earth, by measuring the building shadows. The process in GE is explained here: Estimating Building Heights Using Sketchup & Google Earth |