A method for determining a quality of a surface in the surroundings of a transportation vehicle, wherein three-dimensional surface coordinates of the surface are generated using a sensor assembly. In the method, an approximation of the course of the curvature of the surface in at least one direction is obtained based on the surface coordinates and the surface coordinates are classified to characterize the quality of the surface using the course of the curvature and/or vertical distances of the approximation of the course of the curvature from the three-dimensional surface coordinates. A device for carrying out the method.