LIDAR is a recent development that means Light Detection and Ranging
essentially laser-scanning equipment is deployed from an accurately setup aircraft (either fixed-wing or helicopter) that is positioned by survey-accurate GPS.

A base GPS unit is recorded simultaneously and data is recorded aboard the aircraft onto a powerful computer, all time-tagged so that for the various sensors the exact time of capture is known.

Often aerial photographs are shot simultaneous with LIDAR so the two sets of data can be combined later in post-processing.

While there are accuracy limitations with this data, they are not significant for most projects, and the data will be suitable for most planning and design type work.

One of the real advantages of using LIDAR is that tiny creeks and overland flow paths can be seen that would not have been visible using conventional land survey methods. The coverage and density of survey data is increased at little extra cost.

We recently completed a road design data collection survey that involved huge bush-clad cut batters that were inaccessible by foot.  LIDAR data was used and conventional survey data ‘spliced’ into the LIDAR data for the existing road surface. On the overlap of the two datasets the data was examined, adjusted and the LIDAR portion removed.  The end result was a successful project being completed with no surprises, contractor extras, and dumping quantities being able to be properly programmed.

Land & Marine are properly equipped with the expertise and systems to post-process LIDAR data to your specific requirements.  This will save you time & money and give you far more information at your fingertips