LiDAR BASIC PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS

Introduction

LiDAR is acronym for Light Detection and Ranging. It provides very accurate, high
resolution 3D data. Captured using special sensors, from the air or the ground, it results in
a set of "dots" suspended in a three-dimensional space. These dots can be displayed in
special software or converted into a 3D mesh for use in many modern 3D software
packages, such as 3D Studio MAX, Maya and Sketchup.

LiDAR technology uses light sensors to measure the distance between the sensor and the
target object (Figure 1). From an aircraft this includes objects such as the ground,
buildings and vegetation. For ground based LiDAR it measures building fronts and street
furniture in extreme detail. With the latest technologies it is also possible to obtain colour
values of the scanned surface to create an automatically texturered model.

LiDAR is ideal when very high accuracy measurements are required and is very cost
effective for the amount of data generated. Airborne LiDAR is becoming more and more
popular as a source of terrain mapping due to the high levels of detail it provides. Many
companies now offer substantial amounts of "off-the-shelf" data as new areas are being
flown and added to existing archives.

Ground-based LiDAR, which records "street scenes", has been around for several years
however only now is it beginning to become more common with off-the-shelf data more
prevalent.

Many enthusiasts have created home-made LiDAR scanners, from simple devices such as
distance measuring lasers to more complex 3D laser scanners similar to many
professionally manufactured models. A quick search on YouTube gives an example of the
technologies being developed.
 Figure 1 LiDAR technology
Source: http://vcgi.vermont.gov/LiDAR

A brief history of LiDAR

The oldest known variation of modern LiDAR systems evolved in nature millions of years
ago. Chiroptera, more commonly known as the bat, uses an echolocation guidance system
now known as SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging). They emit short, loud 'chirps'
from their noses and receive an echo through their ears in the form of two antennae. This
provides the bat with a three-dimensional view of the surrounding area, allowing them to
avoid obstacles and easily find their prey.

Humans started to develop similar systems in the beginning of the 20th century. Christian
Huelsmeyer's "Telemobiloscope", developed in 1904, was the first form of RADAR
(RAdio Detection And Ranging) sensor. This used radio waves outside the audible range. It
consisted of an antenna, a receiver and a transmitter. Its original use was to detect metallic
objects, in particular ships at sea, as a form of collision avoidance. This early form of
RADAR had a distance of 3000m, much less than today's modern alternatives. On the
detection of an object it would sound a bell until the object left its path.
The method of determining distance was later solved by aiming the beam at any level of
elevation. Taking into account the height of the transmitting antenna and the angle of
vertical elevation of the detected object allowed simple calculation to determine the
distance of the object from the transmitter. RADAR transmit a narrow, rectangular shaped
pulse modulating in a sine wave carrier. Distance is measured by the time it takes the pulse
to travel to and from the target. It is also possible to use a continuous waveform showing
the Doppler frequency shift to measure the targets velocity.

The Doppler Effect: The Doppler effect is named after Christian Andreas Doppler (1803-
1853). Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist. He was born in Salzburg,
Austria, the son of a stone mason. After completing high school Doppler studied
astronomy and mathematics in Vienna and Salzburg and started work at the Prague
Polytechnic. At the age of 39 Doppler published his most famous work, "Über das farbige
Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels" (On the colored light of
the binary stars and some other stars of the heavens). In this works Doppler suggested his
principle that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source
and the observer. He tried to use this theory for explaining the colors of binary stars.

LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensors work on the same principle as RADAR,
firing a wavelength at an object and timing the delay in its return to the source to measure
the distance between the two points. Because laser light has a much shorter wavelength it
is possible to accurately measure much smaller objects, such as aerosols and cloud
particles, which makes it especially suitable for airborne terrain mapping.

The first optical LASER was built in 1960 by Hughes Aircraft, Inc. Laser instrument were
soon used to compute distance by measuring the travel time of light from laser transmitter
to a target and then back to laser receiver. Early remote sensing LiDAR systems could
only collect measurements directly underneath the aircraft, creating a single profile of
elevation measurements across the landscape. The synergistic use of kinematic GPS and
inertial measurement (IMU) on airborne LiDAR scanning systems has allowed the
technology to mature rapidly. LiDAR derived horizontal and vertical accuracies and cost
of operation are now similar to that of photogrammetry.
LiDAR has been used extensively for atmospheric research and meteorology due to its
excellent resolution. It was only with the deployment of Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
in the 1980s, allowing the precise positioning of aircraft, that made airborne LiDAR
surveying possible. Since then many downward looking LiDAR instruments have been
developed for aircraft and satellite use.

How does LiDAR works

The principle behind LiDAR is really quite simple. Shine a small light at a surface and
measure the time it takes to return to its source. When you shine a torch on a surface what
you are actually seeing is the light being reflected and returning to your retina. Light
travels very fast - about 300,000 kilometers per second, 186,000 miles per second or 0.3
metres per nanosecond so turning a light on appears to be instantaneous. The equipment
required to measure this needs to operate extremely fast. Only with the advancements in
modern computing technology has this become possible.

The actual calculation for measuring how far a returning light photon has travelled to and
from an object is quite simple:

Distance= (Speed of Light x Time of Flight)/2

The LiDAR instrument fires rapid pulses of laser light at a surface, some at up to 150,000
pulses per second. A sensor on the instrument measures the amount of time it takes for
each pulse to bounce back. Light moves at a constant and known speed so the LiDAR
instrument can calculate the distance between itself and the target with high accuracy. By
repeating this in quick succession the instrument builds up a complex 'map' of the surface
it is measuring. With airborne LiDAR other data must be collected to ensure accuracy. As
the sensor is moving height, location and orientation of the instrument must be included to
determine the position of the laser pulse at the time of sending and the time of return. This
extra information is crucial to the data's integrity. With ground based LiDAR a single GPS
location can be added for each location where the instrument is set up.

Generally there are two types of LiDAR detection methods. Direct energy detection, also
known as incoherent, and Coherent detection. Coherent systems are best for Doppler or
phase sensitive measurements and generally use Optical heterodyne detection. This allows
them to operate at much lower power but has the expense of more complex transceiver
requirements. In both types of LiDAR there are two main pulse models: micropulse and
high-energy systems. Micropulse systems have developed as a result of more powerful
computers with greater computational capabilities. These lasers are lower powered and are
classed as 'eye-safe' allowing them to be used with little safety precautions. High energy
systems are more commonly used for atmospheric research where they are often used for
measuring a variety of atmospheric parameters such as the height, layering and density of
clouds, cloud particles properties, temperature, pressure, wind, humidity and trace gas
concentration. Working principle of LiDAR shown below Figure 2

Figure 2 Working principle of LiDAR

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/akshrana/LiDAR-56626481
Most LiDAR systems use four main components:

Lasers:

Lasers are categorised by their wavelength. 600-1000nm lasers are more commonly used
for non-scientific purposes but, as they can be focused and easily absorbed by the eye, the
maximum power has to be limited to make them 'eye-safe'. Lasers with a wavelength of
1550nm are a common alternative as they are not focused by the eye and are 'eye-safe' at
much higher power levels. These wavelengths are used for longer range and lower
accuracy purposes. Another advantage of 1550nm wavelengths is that they do not show
under night-vision goggles and are therefore well suited to military applications.

Airborne LiDAR systems use 1064nm diode pumped YAG lasers whilst Bathymetric
systems use 532nm double diode pumped YAG lasers which penetrate water with much
less attenuation than the airborne 1064nm version. Better resolution can be achieved with
shorter pulses provided the receiver detector and electronics have sufficient bandwidth to
cope with the increased data flow.

Scanners and Optics:

The speed at which images can be developed is affected by the speed at which it can be
scanned into the system. A variety of scanning methods are available for different
purposes such as azimuth and elevation, dual oscillating plane mirrors, dual axis scanner
and polygonal mirrors. They type of optic determines the resolution and range that can be
detected by a system.

Photodetector and receiver electronics:

The photodetector is the device that reads and records the signal being returned to the
system. There are two main types of photodetector technologies, solid state detectors, such
as silicon avalanche photodiodes and photomultipliers.

Navigation and positioning systems:

When a LiDAR sensor is mounted on a mobile platform such as satellites, airplanes or

automobiles, it is necessary to determine the absolute position and the orientation of the
sensor to retain useable data. Global Positioning Systems provide accurate geographical
information regarding the position of the sensor and an Inertia Measurement Unit (IMU)
records the precise orientation of the sensor at that location. These two devices provide the
method for translating sensor data into static points for use in a variety of systems.

LiDAR Laser and Scanning System

The LiDAR instruments consist of a system controller and a transmitter and receiver. As
the aircraft moves forward along the line of flight, a scanning mirror directs pulses of laser
light across track perpendicular to the line of flight (Figure 3a). Most LiDAR used for
topographic mapping use eye safe near infrared laser light in the region from 1040 to
1060nm. Blue green lasers centered at approximately 532nm are used for bathymetric
mapping due to their water penetration capability. LiDAR data can be collected at night if
necessary because it is an active system, not dependent on solar illumination. LiDAR
systems can emit pulses at rates >100,000 pulses per sec, often referred to as pulse
repetition frequency. A pulse of laser light travels at c, the speed of light. LiDAR
technology is based on the accurate measurement of the laser pulse travel time from the
transmitter to the target and back to receiver. The travelling time of a pulse of light, t, is:

𝑅
𝑡=2
𝐶

Where, R= range between LiDAR sensor and the object. The range, R, can be determined
by rearranging the above equation as;

1
𝑅 = 𝑡𝑐
2

The range measurement process results in the collection of elevation data points (generally
referred as masspoints) arranged systematically in time across the flightline (Figure 3b).
The example displays masspoints associated with the ground, several powerlines, a pole
and tree canopy.
Figure 3a LiDAR data collection 3b LiDAR elevation masspoints for small area

Source: (3a) http://www.asu.edu/courses/art345/pike_b/terrainmapping/LiDAR.html

(3b) Remote Sensing of the Environment (second Edition), John.R.Jensen

Types of LiDAR
LiDAR, or 3D laser scanning, was conceived in the 1960s for submarine detection from
aircraft and early models were used successfully in the early 1970's in the US, Canada and
Australia. Over the past ten years there has been a proliferation in the use of LiDAR
sensors in the United Kingdom, with several regularly used in both airborne and ground
surveying. This has been accompanied by an increase in the awareness and understanding
of LiDAR in previously unrelated industries as the application of LiDAR has been
adopted.

Airborne LiDAR:

Most airborne LiDAR systems are made up of the LiDAR sensor, a GPS receiver, an
inertial measurement unit (IMU), an onboard computer and data storage devices.
The LiDAR system pulses a laser beam onto a mirror and projects it downward from an
airborne platform, usually a fixed-wing airplane or a helicopter (Figure 4). The beam is
scanned from side to side as the aircraft flies over the survey area, measuring between
20,000 to 150,000 points per second. When the laser beam hits an object it is reflected
back to the mirror. The time interval between the pulse leaving the airborne platform and
its return to the LiDAR sensor is measured. Following the LiDAR mission, the data is
post-processed and the LiDAR time-interval measurements from the pulse being sent to
the return pulse being received are converted to distance and corrected to the aircraft's
onboard GPS receiver, IMU, and ground-based GPS stations. The GPS accurately
determines the aircraft's position in terms of latitude; longitude and altitude which are also
known as the x, y and z coordinates. The LiDAR sensor collects a huge amount of data
and a single survey can easily generate billions of points totaling several terabytes.

An IMU is used to determine the attitude of the aircraft as the sensor is taking
measurements. These are recorded in degrees to an extremely high accuracy in all three
dimensions as roll, pitch and yaw - the vertical and horizontal movements of the aircraft in
flight. From these two datasets the laser beams exit geometry is calculated relative to the
Earth's surface coordinates to a very high accuracy.

The initial LiDAR data can be further enhanced using additional post-processing, some of
which can be automated and some are manual. Further processing utilizes the multiple
return signals from each laser pulse. By evaluating the time differences between the
multiple return signals the post-processing system can differentiate between buildings and
other structures, vegetation, and the ground surface. This process is used to remove surface
features to produce bare earth models (DTM) and other enhanced data products.

It is also possible to do selective feature extraction, for example, the removal of trees and
other vegetation to leave just the buildings.
 Figure 4 Airborne LiDAR

Source: http://stormwise.uconn.edu/LiDAR/

Ground-based LiDAR:

Ground-based LiDAR systems are very similar, only that an IMU is not required as the
LiDAR is usually mounted on a tripod which the LiDAR sensor rotates 360 degress
around. The pulsed laser beam is reflected from objects such as building fronts, lamp
posts, vegetation, cars and even people.

The return pulses are recorded and the distance between the sensor and the object is
calculated.

The data produced is in a 'point cloud' format, which is a 3-dimensional array of points,
each having x, y and z positions relative to a chosen coordinate system.

The structure of ground based LiDAR is shown below (Figure 5):

 Figure 5 Ground based LiDAR

Source: http://sites.bu.edu/LiDAR/

Application of Remote Sensing in LiDAR:

1) Forest Planning and Management: LiDAR is widely used in the forest industry to
plan and mange (Figure 6). It is used to measure vertical structure of forest canopy and
also used to measure and understand canopy bulk density and canopy base height.
Other uses of the LiDAR in the forest industry are the measurement of the peak height
to estimate its root expansion.

Riaño et al. (2002) identified using Lidar the height and tree cover, height and canopy
cover, crown base height and crown bulk density. First generated a digital terrain
model by differentiation of laser pulses with lower height and later interpolated using
the spline function. Thus, the vegetation height was estimated by removing the ground
elevation above sea level. Depending on the individual pulses height, by an algorithm
based on a cluster analysis differed the variables: tree height, crown base height and
shrub height, and classified the pulses differentiating in trees, shrubs and ground.
Crown bulk density was obtained by dividing crown foliage biomass over crown
 volume. The crown biomass was modeled using empirical specific equations for its
estimating and the crown volume was calculated directly (volume between tree height
and crown base height).

Figure 6 Ability of lidar to penetrate to the ground through gaps in tree canopies
Source: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog481/node/2004

2) Forest Fire Management: LiDAR is becoming widely popular in forest fire

management. Fire department is transforming from reactive to proactive fire
management. LiDAR image helps to monitor the possible fire area which is called fuel
mapping (fire behavior model).

In fire management, DTMs can be used as topographic inputs or as base elevation

maps, which can be subtracted from canopy and vegetation heights to assess fuels.
Topographic information such as slope, elevation, and aspect can be used as direct
inputs into decision support systems such as FARSITE (Fire Area Simulator) and
BEHAVE (Fire behavior prediction and fuel modeling system) (Morsdorf et al. 2004).
These inputs are essential to successful fire behavior prediction modeling (Figure 7).
Digital terrain models also provide the base elevation which is subtracted from digital
surface models (DSMs) to estimate vegetation heights and fuel loading (Andersen et
 al. 2005, Lefsky et al. 2002, Morsdorf et al. 2004, Clark et al. 2004). ere are many
current uses for high-resolution topographic Lidar information. Lidar-derived DTMs
can be extremely detailed with absolute positional accuracies below 15cm in the
vertical dimension and 50cm in the horizontal dimension (Morsdorf et al. 2004).

Figure 7 Hillshade derived from the 2014 LiDAR digital terrain model. (Credit:
Benjamin Jones / U.S. Geological Survey)
Source: http://www.fondriest.com/news/landscape-changes-after-alaskas-anaktuvuk-river-
fire.htm

3) River Survey: Water penetration green light (532 nanometers) of the LiDAR is used
to measure under water. Under water information is required to understand depth, flow
strength, width of the river and more . For the river engineering, its cross section data
is extracted from LiDAR data (DEM) to create a river model, which will create flood
and flood fringe map. In same way to understand sea under world, LiDAR data is used
by the marine engineer (Figure 8). LiDAR provides very accurate information. River is
very sensitive and few meter of change in information can bring disastrous or loss of
properties. So LiDAR is used to create high resolution and accurate surface model of
 the river. These extracted LiDAR information can be used for the 3D simulation for
better planning of the structures or buildings on the river bank.

Figure 8 River survey using LiDAR

Source:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237564890_Integrating_Bathymetric_Topograph
ic_and_LiDAR_Surveys_of_the_Colorado_River_in_Grand_Canyon_to_Assess_the_Effe
ct_of_a_Flow_Experiment_From_Glen_Canyon_Dam_on_the_Colorado_River_Ecosyste
m/figures?lo=1

4) Management of Coastline: LiDAR data of the coastline surface and under the water
surface can be combined by researches to analyze the waves behavior and area covered
by them. If these data are captured periodically then marine scientist can understand
the coastline erosion occurrence.

5) Transport Planning: LiDAR data for road helps engineer to understand it and give a
roadmap for the building it (Figure 9). As LiDAR are highly accurate technology it helps
 to understand width, elevation and length of the existing road. Road engineer use LiDAR
data for below things as well:
 Calculate Cut & fill, culvert sizing, vegetation removal, grade calculations and more.
 Height clearances
 Right of way and surface conditions

Figure 9 Transportation planning

Source: https://quantumspatial.com/our-solutions/transportation
LiDAR technology uses the near-infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum and measures
the time it takes for a laser pulse to travel from the transmitter to the target and back to the
receiver. Because the light speed is known, the distance can be calculated. An accurate timing
system is needed to guarantee the resolution, because the laser pulses are sent at 3,000 to 10,000
times or more per second. The aircraft positioning is recorded using an inertial navigation unit
associated with avionics systems, a high-accuracy Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in
the aircraft, and GPS base stations installed in known locations. Thus, it’s possible to determine
3-D georeferenced coordinates for each pulse and then correct the aircraft positioning in terms of
roll, pitch and heading, thereby improving the system’s accuracy. Modern LiDAR systems can
operate at a laser pulse repetitive frequency of 50-100 kHz per second. The density of the ground
points depends on the aircraft elevation, the number of pulses per time, the scanner angle and the
aircraft speed. To cover dense areas, multiples flights can be combined. For high-resolution
topographic data, a LiDAR mission is flown at low altitude. After the field data collection
process is completed, the data points already in the digital format are easily loaded in computer
stations for processing and interpretation. Airborne LiDAR technology presents several
advantages compared with traditional methods such as photogrammetry and total station ground
survey. Data collection using the field survey can produce accurate information. However, this
method demands a team to measure distances and angles in the field and is thus time consuming
and expensive. Photogrammetry uses stereoscopic analysis of aerial photos to generate a digital
elevation model (DEM) in the post-processing step, which can also be time consuming. Using
LiDAR, time consumption can be reduced considerably because of the high data collection
speed—up to 81 square kilometers or 20,000 acres per day, and the data are collected and stored
digitally.

6) Oil and Gas Exploration: As LiDAR wavelengths are shorter, it can be used to detect
molecules content in the atmosphere that has same or bigger wavelength. There is the new
technology called DIAL (Differential Absorption LiDAR) which is used to trace amount
of gases above the hydrocarbon region. This tracking helps to find the Oil and Gas
deposits (Figure 10).

Figure 10 Oil and Gas Exploration using LiDAR

Source: http://explorationmapping.com/
Kincaid oil field is in Christian County, Illinois. Christian County is located on the southern
flank of the Sangamon arch and has had recent oil development. Wells are mostly Silurian in
age with some Devonian production. A LiDAR survey was flown between 12/2014 and
03/2015 by Digital Aerial Solutions using a Leica ALS70. Slope angle maps using ArcGis
10.3 were created from a terrain data set. 12 divisions were used with quantile classification
and a green to red color ramp. Green is lower slope and red is higher slope. Quantile places an
equal amount of data in each division and results in a good signature of the higher slope
angles in relatively low slope areas. Natural breaks or "Jenks" classification is more
appropriate for areas of high slope angles. As evident in Figure 3 much of the Silurian oil
wells are in areas of red (higher slope)

7) Archeology: LiDAR has played important part for the archeologist to understand the
surface. As LiDAR can detect micro topography that is hidden by vegetation which helps
archeologist to understand the surface (Figure 11). DEM created from LiDAR is feed into
GIS system and it is combined with other layer for analysis and interpretation.

Figure 11 LiDAR technology in archeology

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/20/4445568/lasers-LiDAR-archaeology-detailed-
topographical-maps
From 2012 to 2015, archaeologist Damian Evans and his team used Lidar technology,
mounted on helicopters, to map some 2,230km² with an accuracy of +/- 150mm. With 16 data
points measured every square metre, the researchers were not only able to pinpoint well-
known monumental stone structures in exquisite detail, they also discovered the massive
urban cultures which surrounded these temples, identifiable by the remains of earthworks
such as mounds, canals, roads and quarries.

8) Solar Energy Planning: Solar energy are getting popular for heating and electricity
purpose. Solar panels are used to absorb the heat energy from the sun and it is converted
to heat or electricity energy. For the installation of the Solar panel there are some basic
requirements which are identified by the help of the LiDAR data. Like Solar panel should
be kept to south facing of the roof and it should have minimum area and so on

9) Glacier Volume Changes: LiDAR is used to calculate the glacier change over the
period. LiDAR image are taken in time series to see the change happening. For example,
LiDAR image was taken of Iceland from 2007-2009 and project was completed on 2012.
These captured data will help scientist to know the amount of volume change.
The least squares 3D Surface Matching Method is put forward by Armin Gruen for the
problem statement of surface patch matching and its solution method in photogrammetry
in 1985 . Based on the Generalized Gauss-Markoff model, the proposed method estimates
the seven transformation parameters among different surfaces and minimizes the sum of
squares of the Euclidean distances. It has been widely used among terrain change
monitoring, commercial measurement and Photogrammetry. Based on this method,
Pauline Miller (2009) also successes in acquiring glacier volume change results in
Slakbreen district in Norway, using ASTER data and LIDAR data. Using light detection
and ranging (LiDAR) data collected from surveys over six glaciers in Greenland and
Antarctica, particle image velocimetry (PIV) was applied to temporally-spaced point
clouds to detect and measure surface motion. The type and distribution of surface features,
surface roughness, and spatial and temporal resolution of the data were all found to be
important factors, which limited the use of PIV to four of the original six glaciers. The
PIV results were found to be in good agreement with other, widely accepted,
measurement techniques, including manual tracking and GPS, and offered a
comprehensive distribution of velocity data points across glacier surfaces. For three
glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, average velocities ranged from 0.8–2.1 m/year. For
one glacier in Greenland, the average velocity was 22.1 m/day (8067 m/year).
10) Gaming: LiDAR technology is used to capture the surrounding area and this data is feed
into the computer and color code is added to it. For example for the race track game,
LiDAR will be used to capture the view of the real race track. This captured race track
data will be used for the game.

11) Recording of Building: Ground based LiDAR can be used to record the inside of the
house. It can be used to record the interior design too. This extracted data can be printed
on the 3D printer to model it. Or when building is rebuild this recorded information can be
used to restore the interior design.

12) Mining: LiDAR is also used in the mining business in various task. It is used to measure
the ore volume by taking series of photos of ore extraction space. These interval photos
are used to calculate the volume.

13) Tunnel Surveying: LiDAR is used to measure accurate and detailed measurements, used
for analysis, assessment and modeling of the tunnel that is for railway track or road. This
might be in the mountain, land or underwater.