LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is a remote sensing method that uses a laser to measure distances. Pulses of light are emitted from a laser scanner, and when the pulse hits a target, a portion of its photons are reflected back to the scanner. Because the location of the scanner, the directionality of the pulse, and the time between pulse emission and return are known, the 3D location (XYZ coordinates) from which the pulse reflected is calculable. The laser emits millions of such pulses, and records from whence they reflect producing a highly precise 3D point cloud (model) which can be used to estimate the 3D structure of the target area.
How are LiDAR data collected?
Most often, the scanning laser is mounted in an aircraft – typically a fixed-wing airplane although increasingly in drones – and scans the ground along its route or direction of flight. Occasionally scanning lasers are mounted on a tripod or vehicle for terrestrial based laser (TLS) scans.
What can LiDAR data do?
LiDAR data provide a detailed 3D model of the target area, including its terrain, topography, and vegetation. In turn the digital terrain model of the ground surface can be used to derive a range of additional products including models of slope or visibility, and the 3D data on vegetative structure can be used for a broad range of applications within forestry and ecological contexts.
Applications
- Agriculture
- Archaeology
- Autonomous vehicles
- Biology and conservation
- Geology and soil science
- Atmospheric remote sensing and meteorology
- Law enforcement
- Military
- Mining
- Physics and astronomy
- Rock mechanics
- Robotics
- Spaceflight
- Surveying
- Transport
- Wind farm optimization
- Solar photovoltaic deployment optimization
- Video games
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