The Evolving World of Lidar

EARTH

SKY

SPACE

AERIAL LIDAR

TERRESTRIAL LIDAR

MOBILE LIDAR

From plane, helicopter, or UAS/drone, aerial sourced lidar is a safe option no matter what traffic or environmental conditions may exist below.

mobile lidar is the

Surveyor’snew

BEST FRIENDAccording to the USDOT: In 2012, 609 people died in highway work-zone crashes, an increase of 19 fatalties compared to 2011. In other words, roads are dangerous places to work. Mobile lidar is a safety enhancer. It keeps the surveyor out of the �eld more than once per project, and makes their lives a whole lot easier with impecible accuracy.

LiDaR - Light Detection and Ranging

It’s the same idea as radar, except it uses lazer beams which bounce off of an object instead of radio waves. In terrestrial form you just set up your sensor where it is most effective and collect ample amounts of accurate data. Data that comes from lazers, which is cool.

So, you’ve got a highway that’s awfully busy, but you need lidar? You don’t want to set up a terrestrial sensor a bunch of times, and you want features you can’t get from the air (ie bridge clearances). Rest assured, mobile lidar can fullfill those demands. At highway speeds, this state-of-the-art machine can get you all of the data you need, in a safer and faster manner.

MULTI-SOURCEThe

DataSOLUTION

lidar

lidar

LIDAR TIMELINE

1970’s -

1980’s -

Mid 90’s-

2000’s -

Today -

According to Penn State, modern laser-based remotesensing began taking shapein NASA’s R&D labs.

The first laser altimetry systems were used by NASA[NASA Atmospheric and Oceanographic Lidar(AOL) and Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM)]

The �rst commercial lidar systems are developed.

NASA uses lidar on Mars orbiter missions, as well as space shuttle missions.

Quick developments in data processing led to greater capacities for lidar inte-gration. The �rst lidar speci�c software emerged.

GPS became extremely reliable, giving lidar technology a control element previ-ously missing.

Lidar scanners became more robust, leading to greater signal output and even more accurate returns.

Today’s lidar sensors come in all shapes and sizes, and can be applied to all kinds of platforms. Point clouds have become a common deliverable, and CAD/GIS packages feature tools to manipulate the point cloud as needed. The resulting design-ready 3D dataset is increasingly in demand.

A decades old technology has become a viable must-have solution for engineers, planners and construction managers

Of course the future comes with lazers...

SURVEY

+ PHOTOGRAMMETRY

+ lidar

=

A complete comprehensive and authoratative 3D data set is a wonder to work with. Once handed this level of data, the engineer is ready to crank out numerous design options. This is a truly engineering ready platform, with a ton of cost saving benefits down stream.

For any mapping need, don’t hesitate to contact the friendly folks at Continental Mapping Consultants. Continental Mapping can get any business integrated into the world of Data Fusion.

Continental Mapping is a small business, but they are big time when it comes to deliverables.

Come explore your options:www.continentalmapping.com

a completeandauthoritative3D dataset

DATA FUSION

Sources: NASA, Penn State