LiDAR Mapping
Fugro EarthData operates multiple airborne LiDAR sensors to provide a full complement of solutions that meet customer needs for fast and accurate elevation data. Through constant improvements to our sensors, processing software, and production techniques, Fugro EarthData is a LiDAR mapping leader. Applications for our LiDAR mapping services include floodplain mapping, forest inventory, transportation and utility corridor mapping, land-use/land-cover classification, 3D urban modeling, and line-of-sight analysis, among others.
Advantages
- Extensive experience. Having performed large and small LiDAR mapping projects in the United States and Europe, Fugro EarthData is skilled at tailoring cost-effective solutions for customers based on optimum flying height, point spacing, field-of-view, and overlap between flight lines to meet project-specific requirements. We have the knowledge and experience to provide solutions that will best fit customer needs and budget.
- Unsurpassed LiDAR mapping capacity. Fugro EarthData owns and operates two LiDAR systems that can capture LiDAR data ranging from 200 m to 6,000 m, with vertical accuracies of +/- 9 cm to 40 cm. Our LiDAR data acquisition and processing capacity enables us to deliver accurate LiDAR-derived products in a timely fashion for a wide range of projects.
- State-of-the-art LiDAR production processes. Our LiDAR experts have designed customized production routines that include automated processing of LiDAR data to bare ground, automated 3D breaklines, and LiDAR-derived land-cover/land-use classifications for calculating roughness (also known as N-values) for hydrologic features. These proprietary LiDAR mapping techniques enable us to deliver customers more detailed and reliable information, faster.
- Rigorous quality control. All of Fugro EarthData's LiDAR data acquisition and production processes are ISO9001:2008-certified. These rigorous standards help ensure that customers receive on-time, first-time-right LiDAR mapping deliveries.
Capabilities
- Acqusition. Fugro EarthData acquires airborne LiDAR data using Leica ALS50-II multiple-return laser scanning systems. Emitting 20,000-150,000 pulses per second at altitudes ranging from 200 m to 6,000 m, our LiDAR mapping systems achieve point densities of 50 cm to 4.5 m and vertical accuracies ±15 cm to 40 cm, root mean square error (RMSE). Our new ALS50-II sensor includes Leica's Multiple Pulse in the Air (MPiA) technology for more efficient data collection while maintaining high accuracy.
- Processing. For each emitted laser pulse, the systems return up to four range values for location and elevation data, and three intensity values for the production of 256-range gray-scale imagery. Combined, the range and intensity data support generation of bare-earth surface models, feature extraction, and land-use/land-cover characterization. Fugro EarthData has developed automated methodologies to streamline LiDAR data processing and quality control routines that consistently produce first-time-right LiDAR deliverables.
Products
- Digital elevation models. LiDAR DEMs provide a fast and cost-effective method for producing surface models accurate for use in orthophoto rectification. Fugro EarthData offers both reflective-surface and bare-earth DEMs with a nominal post spacing of 50 cm to 4.5 m.
- Contours. Supplemented with breaklines, Fugro EarthData can provide contours at intervals of 30 cm and higher, meeting National Map Accuracy Standards.
- Land-use/land-cover. LiDAR data may be used to generate preliminary land-cover classification depicting open, scrub/shrub, urban, and forested classifications at a nominal post spacing of 1 m to 4.5 m. This information is proven to be very useful for determining roughness using Manning N-values for the hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of limited study areas, in support of floodplain mapping.
- Intensity images. Similar in appearance to low-resolution photographs, georeferenced LiDAR intensity images can be used to extract planimetric features, serve as ancillary input in the LiDAR data processing and to check the horizontal accuracy of the LiDAR data, as well as the "cleanliness" of the bare-earth surface data.
