ELMAP AIRBORNE LIDARS

ELMAP Airborne LiDARs are a series of compact, high-performance laser scanners designed for cost effective airborne laser mapping with fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft. They provide highly accurate measurements in a compact and lightweight package that can easily be installed even on small survey aircraft. ELMAP systems make advanced airborne lidar technology affordable also for smaller photo-grammetry and survey firms and organizations. They are the ideal choice for replacing outdated or updating older systems with state-of-the-art performance.

ELMAP systems provide state-of-the-art echo waveform digitization and recording for every laser shot. Echo waveforms carry a wealth of information about the vertical surface structure, and only digitizing waveform technology is able to make this information available for processing. Not only the heights of the first or last reflecting surface as with conventional (discrete return) lidars but also detailed insights into the vertical structure of the surface cover become available, for instance the vertical density distribution of tree crowns, the vegetation density at different height levels, or the roughness and slope of the surface on a per-return level. Even returns from very close surfaces like low vegetation and ground can be distinguished, providing additional cues for automated point classification. Waveform processing improves ranging accuracy in difficult surface conditions and more reliably eliminates slope and intensity dependent range walk than is possible with conventional approaches. Also, for each height level at which the laser pulse was reflected information about the surface reflectance in the near infrared is available allowing for example to discern a paved road surface from an unpaved path below the forest canopy.

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