Director of Remote Sensing Amar Nayegandhi explains the science and technology behind Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) services.
Transcription:
LiDAR can be considered an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging. It is a remote sensing technology that's used to measure distances, and it doesn't act on its own. It actually -- LIDAR typically includes three independently operating technologies. There's LiDAR, which is essentially a giant laser ranging device. The laser-ranging device sends out millions of pulses. Today, they can send out over 400,000 pulses in one second. That technology gives you the distance or the range to the target and there are two other technologies: GPS, which is Global Positioning System, or global navigations systems, that give you the location of the instrument that's holding the LiDAR sensor. The third technology is the initial measurement unit, which is an IMU system and that system is used to measure the pitch, roll, and heading of, for example, an airborne platform. It could also be installed on a installed on a mobile platform like a car or vehicle on the road, or it could be a terrestrially mounted LiDAR system such as those mounted on a tripod. The reason why sometimes LiDAR is the preferred technology to use is that it can map the bare root beneath vegetation better than most other technologies can.