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INTRODUCTION TO LIDAR 
TECHNOLOGY
Basics Of LIDAR Technology 
• Acronym  Light Detection And Ranging. 
• It is a Remote Sensing technology that measure the distance by 
illuminating the target with Laser and analysing the reflected light. 
• Lidar uses ultraviolet, visible, or near infrared light to image objects. 
• It can target a wide range of materials, including non-metallic objects, 
rocks, rain, chemical compounds, aerosols, clouds and even 
single molecules.
Basics Of LIDAR Technology 
• A narrow laser-beam can map physical features with very 
high resolution. 
• Its wavelength vary to suit the target: from about 10 micro-meters to 
the Ultra Violet Radiation of 250 nm. 
• In LIDAR, Light is reflected via back-scattering. 
• Different types of scattering are used for different lidar applications: 
most commonly Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, Raman scattering, 
and fluorescence.
Working Principle
Basic Formula For Range 
Measurement
Working Principle
Topographic LiDAR 
Topographic Lidar is used to 
make high resolution digital 
map of land surfaces. 
BASIC COMPONENT 
 Global Positioning System (GPS) 
 Inertial Navigation System (INS) 
 LASER SYSTEM 
 And Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Multiple Return LiDAR
GENERAL LIDAR EQUATION 
Lidar equation is the fundamental equation in laser remote sensing 
field to relate the received photon counts (or light power) with the 
transmitted laser photon counts (or laser power), light propagation in 
background atmosphere, physical interaction between light and objects, 
and lidar system efficiency and geometry, etc.
Introduction to lidar and its application
Introduction to lidar and its application
Application 
• Agriculture : Create a Topographical map of 
the fields and reveals the slopes and sun 
exposure of the farm land. 
• Archaeology: 
• Autonomous vehicles: Autonomous vehicles 
use lidar for obstacle detection and avoidance 
to navigate safely through environments. 
• Biology and conservation 
• Geology and soil science: ICESat (Ice, 
Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) 
• Atmospheric Remote Sensing and 
Meteorology 
• Law enforcement: Lidar speed guns 
• Military 
• Physics and astronomy, Robotics and 
Spaceflight 
• Surveying, Transport , wind farm 
optimization and many more.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
LIDAR speed gun 
A LiDAR speed gun is a device used by the police for speed limit enforcement which 
uses LiDAR to detect the speed of a vehicle. Unlike Radar speed guns, which rely 
on Doppler shifts to measure the speed of a vehicle, these devices allow a police officer 
to measure the speed of an individual vehicle within a stream of traffic.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
LITE: Measuring the Atmosphere With Laser Precision 
LITE (Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment) was space shuttle 
mission from NASA which orbited the Earth while positioned inside the 
payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery. During this nine-day mission, 
LITE measured the Earth's cloud cover and track various kind of 
particles in the atmosphere. Designed and built at the NASA Langley 
Research Center, LITE is the first use of a lidar (light detection and 
ranging) system for atmospheric studies from space.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
Google driverless car 
Google's robotic cars have about $150,000 in 
equipment including a $70,000 lidar (light 
radar) system. The range finder mounted on the 
top is a Velodyne 64-beam laser. This laser 
allows the vehicle to generate a detailed 3D map 
of its environment. The car then takes these 
generated maps and combines them with high-resolution 
maps of the world, producing 
different types of data models that allow it to 
drive itself.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
Lunar Laser Ranging 
experiment 
The ongoing Lunar Laser Ranging 
Experiment measures the distance between 
the Earth and the Moon using laser 
ranging. Lasers on Earth are aimed at retro 
reflectors planted on the Moon during the Apollo 
program (11, 14, and 15), and the time for the 
reflected light to return is determined.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
Autonomous cruise control 
system 
Autonomous cruise control (also called adaptive 
or radar cruise control) is an optional cruise 
control system for road vehicles that 
automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to 
maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. It 
makes no use of satellite or roadside 
infrastructures nor of any cooperative support 
from other vehicles. Hence control is imposed 
based on sensor information from on-board 
sensors only.
Present Technical Advancement in 
LIDAR 
ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation 
Satellite) 
It is a part of NASA's Earth Observing System, 
was a satellite mission for measuring ice sheet 
mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well 
as land topography and vegetation 
characteristics. ICESat was launched 13 
January 2003 on a Delta II rocket 
from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California 
into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an 
altitude of approximately 600 km. It operated 
for seven years before being retired in February 
2010, after its scientific payload shut down and 
scientists were unable to restart it.
Advantage of LiDAR Technology 
Higher accuracy 
Fast acquisition and processing 
Acquisition of 1000 km2 in 12 hours. 
DEM generation of 1000 km2 in 24 hours. 
Minimum human dependence 
As most of the processes are automatic unlike 
photogrammetry, GPS or land surveying. 
Weather/Light independence 
Data collection independent of sun inclination and at night 
and slightly bad weather. 
Canopy penetration 
LiDAR pulses can reach beneath the canopy thus 
generating measurements of points there unlike 
photogrammetry. 
Higher data density 
Up to 167,000 pulses per second. More than 24 points per 
m2 can be measured. 
Multiple returns to collect data in 3D. 
Additional data 
LiDAR also observes the amplitude of back scatter energy 
thus recording a reflectance value for each data 
point. This data, though poor spectrally, can be used for 
classification, as at the wavelength used some features 
may be discriminated accurately. 
Cost 
Is has been found by comparative studies that LiDAR 
data is cheaper in many applications. This is particularly 
considering the speed, accuracy and density of data.
References 
• http://sisko.colorado.edu/NOTES/Lecture11.pdf 
• http://geography.tamu.edu/class/aklein/geog361/lecture_notes.html 
• http://home.iitk.ac.in/~blohani/LiDARSchool2008/Downloads/Kanpur-Baltsavias.pdf 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar 
• http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1689630&url=http%3A%2F% 
2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D1689630
THANK YOU

More Related Content

Introduction to lidar and its application

  • 2. Basics Of LIDAR Technology • Acronym  Light Detection And Ranging. • It is a Remote Sensing technology that measure the distance by illuminating the target with Laser and analysing the reflected light. • Lidar uses ultraviolet, visible, or near infrared light to image objects. • It can target a wide range of materials, including non-metallic objects, rocks, rain, chemical compounds, aerosols, clouds and even single molecules.
  • 3. Basics Of LIDAR Technology • A narrow laser-beam can map physical features with very high resolution. • Its wavelength vary to suit the target: from about 10 micro-meters to the Ultra Violet Radiation of 250 nm. • In LIDAR, Light is reflected via back-scattering. • Different types of scattering are used for different lidar applications: most commonly Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, Raman scattering, and fluorescence.
  • 5. Basic Formula For Range Measurement
  • 7. Topographic LiDAR Topographic Lidar is used to make high resolution digital map of land surfaces. BASIC COMPONENT  Global Positioning System (GPS)  Inertial Navigation System (INS)  LASER SYSTEM  And Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
  • 9. GENERAL LIDAR EQUATION Lidar equation is the fundamental equation in laser remote sensing field to relate the received photon counts (or light power) with the transmitted laser photon counts (or laser power), light propagation in background atmosphere, physical interaction between light and objects, and lidar system efficiency and geometry, etc.
  • 12. Application • Agriculture : Create a Topographical map of the fields and reveals the slopes and sun exposure of the farm land. • Archaeology: • Autonomous vehicles: Autonomous vehicles use lidar for obstacle detection and avoidance to navigate safely through environments. • Biology and conservation • Geology and soil science: ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) • Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Meteorology • Law enforcement: Lidar speed guns • Military • Physics and astronomy, Robotics and Spaceflight • Surveying, Transport , wind farm optimization and many more.
  • 13. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR LIDAR speed gun A LiDAR speed gun is a device used by the police for speed limit enforcement which uses LiDAR to detect the speed of a vehicle. Unlike Radar speed guns, which rely on Doppler shifts to measure the speed of a vehicle, these devices allow a police officer to measure the speed of an individual vehicle within a stream of traffic.
  • 14. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR LITE: Measuring the Atmosphere With Laser Precision LITE (Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment) was space shuttle mission from NASA which orbited the Earth while positioned inside the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery. During this nine-day mission, LITE measured the Earth's cloud cover and track various kind of particles in the atmosphere. Designed and built at the NASA Langley Research Center, LITE is the first use of a lidar (light detection and ranging) system for atmospheric studies from space.
  • 15. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR Google driverless car Google's robotic cars have about $150,000 in equipment including a $70,000 lidar (light radar) system. The range finder mounted on the top is a Velodyne 64-beam laser. This laser allows the vehicle to generate a detailed 3D map of its environment. The car then takes these generated maps and combines them with high-resolution maps of the world, producing different types of data models that allow it to drive itself.
  • 16. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR Lunar Laser Ranging experiment The ongoing Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment measures the distance between the Earth and the Moon using laser ranging. Lasers on Earth are aimed at retro reflectors planted on the Moon during the Apollo program (11, 14, and 15), and the time for the reflected light to return is determined.
  • 17. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR Autonomous cruise control system Autonomous cruise control (also called adaptive or radar cruise control) is an optional cruise control system for road vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. It makes no use of satellite or roadside infrastructures nor of any cooperative support from other vehicles. Hence control is imposed based on sensor information from on-board sensors only.
  • 18. Present Technical Advancement in LIDAR ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) It is a part of NASA's Earth Observing System, was a satellite mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat was launched 13 January 2003 on a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 600 km. It operated for seven years before being retired in February 2010, after its scientific payload shut down and scientists were unable to restart it.
  • 19. Advantage of LiDAR Technology Higher accuracy Fast acquisition and processing Acquisition of 1000 km2 in 12 hours. DEM generation of 1000 km2 in 24 hours. Minimum human dependence As most of the processes are automatic unlike photogrammetry, GPS or land surveying. Weather/Light independence Data collection independent of sun inclination and at night and slightly bad weather. Canopy penetration LiDAR pulses can reach beneath the canopy thus generating measurements of points there unlike photogrammetry. Higher data density Up to 167,000 pulses per second. More than 24 points per m2 can be measured. Multiple returns to collect data in 3D. Additional data LiDAR also observes the amplitude of back scatter energy thus recording a reflectance value for each data point. This data, though poor spectrally, can be used for classification, as at the wavelength used some features may be discriminated accurately. Cost Is has been found by comparative studies that LiDAR data is cheaper in many applications. This is particularly considering the speed, accuracy and density of data.
  • 20. References • http://sisko.colorado.edu/NOTES/Lecture11.pdf • http://geography.tamu.edu/class/aklein/geog361/lecture_notes.html • http://home.iitk.ac.in/~blohani/LiDARSchool2008/Downloads/Kanpur-Baltsavias.pdf • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar • http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1689630&url=http%3A%2F% 2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D1689630