LIDAR: TRANSITIONING TECHNOLOGIES FROM LAB TO APPLICATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE

Private firms such as TerraPoint LLC are commercializing proprietary light detection and ranging (lidar) technology obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This venture is resulting in the export of U.S. technology and engineering experience to several points around the world. TerraPoint was engaged in Switzerland to develop highly accurate elevation and surface terrain models for 20,000 sq km of countryside with the specific application of defining forest boundaries now encroaching on agricultural land. Lidar was the chosen technology because the regularly spaced grid produces a high density of elevation points which more clearly define the interplay between crop and forest boundaries. In Malaysia, lidar technology was used to develop a dense surface corridor model for a electrified tilting train project and to collect terrain and surface data in Kuala Lumpur. The new model should help assist in urban planning and future transportation projects. TerraPoint has also completed a terrain model collection in Japan primarily for ortho-rectifying satellite imagery. The company is also proposing to collect digital elevation models for establishing a geoid network where no known reference points exist in a Central African country. One of the most challenging projects has been a large area lidar collection project in Connecticut that covers the entire state and will be used to create bare earth models with features removed and terrain models for feature extraction such as three-dimensional structure graphics.