How
Does LiDAR Work - Laser Systems
As stated before, there are three main
systems at work to run the LiDAR technology: Laser
Systems, Scanning Systems, and Positioning Systems.
Laser systems are the part of LiDAR that emits the
laser down to the area in which is being scanned.
Typically, these lasers are attached to the bottom
of the plane and follow a sweeping motion
back-and-forth.
There are many unique ways that a laser can be fine
tuned for the job that it is trying to do. Depending
on the situation, different lasers may be used to
conduct the scans - often involving higher or lower
wavelengths. But not to worry, these wavelengths are
made sure to be safe for human eyes! Not only can
the wavelengths of the laser change but the rate at
which the laser is sending out the beam (pulsing)
can also effect the way in which data is collected.
The last thing that is a factor in the laser is the
material that the laser is being passed through to
cause the sweeping motion and airborne techniques
normally use YAG, also known as yttrium aluminum
garnet. (3)
However, the laser system is not able to interpret
the data that it collects. So the data must be sent
to a scanner system that is connected to the laser
which will then do the calculations for distances
and then generate a 3D image of the land.
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The lasers on the plane work much like this
miniature version shown here. A laser of
this size might generally be found on
something like a motor vehicle on the
ground.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar
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