How Does LiDAR Work - Positioning Systems The positioning systems are arguably the most important for the technology to work in an airborne LiDAR and because of this, there are two different positioning systems that are used to ensure understanding of the exact position of the aircraft on Earth. The first system set is typically located on both the ground and in space (through use of satellites.) These systems measure the plane's exact x, y, and z coordinates. (5) Source: https://gmv.cast.uark.edu/scanning-2/airborne-laser-scanning/ The second set comes from a device called a Inertial Measurement Unit, or IMU for short. This device measures three different things on the aircraft to determine the orientation as it flies through the air: pitch, yaw, and roll. (5) The plane also is experiencing many forces as it flies such as drag, lift, thrust, and weight and all of these forces can cause changes in the movement of the flight that need to be recorded to have accurate mapping. Inertial Measurement Unit Free Body Diagram of a Plane in Flight Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_measurement_unit Source: https://steemit.com/aviation/@technerd/the-physics-of-aircraft-design-and-flight As stated earlier, these positioning systems can be used to calculate the altitude of a plane which can then be used to calculate the elevation. This process helps quite a bit when considering real applications of LiDAR technology. Especially for the archaeologist from our introduction example attempting to find a lost city.

Previous Page - Home - Next Page