Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is one of the popular remote sensing tools which provide accurate horizontal and vertical information.

Airborne LiDAR systems are mounted on helicopters or fixed wings aircraft and survey for large areas. LiDAR system consists of a laser ranging and scanning unit together with a Position and Orientation System (POS), which includes integrated Differential Global Positional System (DGPS) and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The laser unit measures the distance while onboard GPS/IMU components give the position and orientation of the platform.

Airborne LiDAR systems satisfy the needs of several mapping applications and made it as a preferred technology compared to any others

Airborne LiDAR systems satisfy the needs of several mapping applications and have made the platform a preferred technology due to the following advantages:

>  More accurate than other remote sensing techniques
>  Faster and cheaper data acquisition than conventional survey methods for medium – large areas
>  Accurate measurement of ground elevation underneath dense forest canopy
>  No ground intrusion, thus causing no environmental or social impact
>  Robust against human error from conventional surveys

GDS has been building proprietary LiDAR systems since the 1980s and the latest LiDAR system is MATRIX.

The MATRIX LiDAR system is a unique modular airborne LiDAR system, which can be fitted with a variety of digital frame or video cameras and scanning lasers. The system can be mounted to different types of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. The MATRIX LiDAR system is adaptable to local conditions and clients’ requirements.

Costs for a LiDAR survey are a function of all of the following:

>  Specific project requirements such as the laser pulse density to determine the number of flight lines for the project.
> Where the project is located to determine the associated mobilization costs for the hardware and ground support team.
> The size of the project to determine the required flight and data processing hours.
> What airborne platform will work best for the terrain and application? Either a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft.
> Special deliverable requirements such as additional LiDAR feature classification.
> Whether digital orthorectified imagery is a required deliverable.

To obtain project pricing GDS requires a shape file or geospatial map showing the project boundary or corridor length including the width.

For further information please contact GDS.

> Airborne LiDAR
> Bathymetric LiDAR (Water Penetration)
> Terrestrial Mobile & Fixed LiDAR
> Handheld LiDAR
> Waveform LiDAR

GDS provides LiDAR data for several types of applications such as:

>  Forestry and Agriculture
> Flood Study
> Slope Analysis
> Mining
> Railway and Highway
> Transmission Line
> Urban Planning & Telecommunication
> Pipeline

> LiDAR Point Cloud (x,y,z)
> Digital Terrain Model (DTM)
> Digital Surface Model (DSM)
> Color Orthophoto Mosaic
> Digitized Features (Building footprint, road, river, etc.)
> Contours