Lidar

Method of spatial measurement using laser scanning / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Lidar (/ˈlaɪdɑːr/, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is an acronym of "light detection and ranging"[1] or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging".[2] It is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It is sometimes called 3-D laser scanning, a special combination of 3-D scanning and laser scanning.[3] LIDAR has terrestrial, airborne, and mobile applications.[4][5]

Effigy_mounds_lidar.jpg
Lidar-derived image of Marching Bears Mound Group, Effigy Mounds National Monument
Starfire_Optical_Range_-_sodium_laser.jpg
A frequency addition source of optical radiation (FASOR) used at the Starfire Optical Range for lidar and laser guide star experiments is tuned to the sodium D2a line and used to excite sodium atoms in the upper atmosphere.
Lidar_P1270901.jpg
This lidar may be used to scan buildings, rock formations, etc., to produce a 3-D model. The lidar can aim its laser beam in a wide range: its head rotates horizontally; a mirror tilts vertically. The laser beam is used to measure the distance to the first object on its path.
An airplane collecting treetop data over a Brazilian rainforest
In this view, the viewer flies down to the rainforest canopy and flies through the virtual leaves.
This visualization shows an airplane collecting a 50-kilometer swath of lidar data over the Brazilian rainforest. For ground-level features, colors range from deep brown to tan. Vegetation heights are depicted in shades of green, where dark greens are closest to the ground and light greens are the highest.

Lidar is commonly used to make high-resolution maps, with applications in surveying, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, geography, geology, geomorphology, seismology, forestry, atmospheric physics,[6] laser guidance, airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), and laser altimetry. It is used to make digital 3-D representations of areas on the Earth's surface and ocean bottom of the intertidal and near coastal zone by varying the wavelength of light. It has also been increasingly used in control and navigation for autonomous cars[7] and for the helicopter Ingenuity on its record-setting flights over the terrain of Mars.[8]