Alexandria, VA – A new generation of lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging technology, is bringing the laser-based survey method down to Earth. The new technology involves mounting instruments atop cars, boats and even backpacks. These new mobile mapping systems will give geoscientists a whole new way to map and study the world.
Traditional lidar uses satellites and airplanes to map the surface of the Earth below, whereas mobile mapping lidar scans from ground level. However, the real difference between the two methods lies in resolution and perspective. Most airborne scans have a resolution of a half-meter, whereas terrestrial scans are on the order of centimeters and can produce even better high-resolution 3-D datasets. Other benefits to mobile mapping include that it is much more cost-effective than other highway survey methods and that it leaves a much smaller environmental footprint than an airplane. How else is mobile mapping lidar changing the way geoscientists map, and how soon until this new technology is available to everyone? Learn more at http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/mobile-mapping-lidar-hits-road.
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The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of 50 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.