Airborne Laser Scanning (LIDAR)
Digital elevation models (DEMs) are today one of the standard products of land surveying. They represent the shape of the earth surface in an idealized way by a certain number of discrete points of known position and altitude.
The increasing demand of up-to-date elevation models for a large variety of applications requires economical recording procedures which are able to supply the required measurement data even for large areas with sufficient accuracy in a reasonable time.
One of these procedures is Airborne Laser Scanning, also known as LIDAR. It is characterized by a largely automated measuring procedure, fully digitized data collection and computer-based data evaluation. Laser Scanning is based on a multisensor system whose main components are a ranging laser with scanner, a GPS receiver and an Inertial Navigation System (INS).