The arrival of airborne Lidar, also referred to as airborne laser scanning (ALS), has revolutionized area-wide 3D data acquisition of topography, bathymetry, vegetation, buildings and infrastructure. This article presents an overview of the progress made since then in both sensor and aircraft technology.
Current trends include a steady increase of the measurement rate, achievements in full waveform processing, the spread of multispectral and topo-bathymetric laser scanners, the introduction of single-photon sensitive airborne sensors and the advent of integrated active and passive systems. On top of that, this article highlights how the ongoing miniaturization has recently enabled the application of Lidar on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), resulting in ultra-high-resolution 3D point clouds with centimetre precision.
Highlights include:
- From Single to Multiple Pulses in the Air
- From Multi-photon to Single-photon Lidar
- From Single-purpose Scanners to Hybrid Sensor Systems
- From Manned to Unmanned Platforms
- Conclusions
Click here for the full article on GIM International
Image Credit: GIM International
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