What is drone-based LiDar and how it is being used in industry?

LiDar technology has been all around us for decades. It refers to an imperative remote sensing method used for measuring the exact distance of an object on the earth’s surface. For example, LiDAR precisely measures where vegetation takes place, how dense the vegetation is and the topography of the ground underneath it. As it uses sensors emitting laser beams that hit the ground and bounce back, it is currently used for creating super detailed 3D maps and models of landscapes, buildings and human-made objects with high resolution.

With rapid innovations in LiDar, with lower costs and model size, companies are now deploying LiDAR systems mounted on drones or UAVs as all-in-one 3D mapping device. These LiDAR-equipped drone systems can monitor an interstate pileup at night, for instance. They can even measure canopy heights, coverage, tree density as well as to measure the location and height of individual trees. LiDar drones include quadcopters, fixed-wing drones, UAV helicopters and others.

Why LiDar Drones Matter?

A lidar sensor mounted on a UAV can process images very quickly in the cloud, allowing businesses to make effective decisions. When compared to other aerial survey techniques, LiDar-equipped drone collection yields the highest fidelity data. As noted by PrecisionHawk, Director of Data & LiDAR Services Jamie Young, CP, CMS-L, GISP said that with higher density, or a higher resolution, the detail of information you receive from the drone-based LiDAR sensor is more robust. A denser point cloud gives research teams more flexibility to run the data through a range of algorithms and analyses.

As uses ultraviolet, near-infrared light to image objects, LiDAR is an active system. It proves to be an extraordinary tool to measure volumes of material in open pit mines without disrupting work on the ground. And using drones in mining workflows significantly cuts time, costs and risk exposure. LiDAR-equipped drones can also help determine how resources might be used to boost productivity. They can be used over forest areas to create 3D models that demonstrate the impact of human activity. 

LiDAR in Commercial Drone Applications

LiDAR drones are making a significant impact for professionals and specialists across diverse industries, both in terms of efficiency of data collection and generation of geospatial deliverables. In forest fire management, LiDar is essential technology transforming the fire department from reactive to proactive fire management. Image generated by LiDar helps in monitoring the possible fire area called fuel mapping or fire behavior model. LiDar provides accurate information regarding flood model by creating high resolution and accurate surface model of the river. By using this information extracted from LiDar, municipalities or governments can create a 3D simulation for better planning of the structures or buildings on the river bank.

LiDar data can also be useful in coastline management. It can be used by researchers to analyze the waves behavior and the area covered by them. Such data are also constructive in transport planning as they help engineers to understand it and give them a roadmap for building it.