Quantifying the Size of a Lidar Footprint: A Set of Generalized Equations

Author

Sheng, Yongwei

Author_Institution

Dept. of Geogr., Univ. of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Volume

5

Issue

3

fYear

2008

fDate

7/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

419

Lastpage

422

Abstract

Light detection and ranging (lidar) technologies provide a practical solution to 3D terrain mapping through laser ranging and scanning technologies. A lidar footprint, which is the critical parameter describing the size of a laser sampling area, varies with the scanning geometry and the local topography encountered. Integrating the effects of the scanning geometry and terrain orientations, this letter analyzes the intersection geometry of a laser beam and the terrain and develops a set of rigorous generalized footprint equations on inclined terrain for both across-track and Palmer scanning systems.

Keywords

optical radar; remote sensing by laser beam; terrain mapping; topography (Earth); 3D terrain mapping; Palmer scanning systems; across track scanning systems; generalized equation set; generalized footprint equations; inclined terrain; laser ranging technologies; laser sampling area size; laser scanning technologies; laser-terrain intersection geometry; lidar footprint size quantification; lidar technologies; light detection and ranging; local topography; scanning geometry; terrain orientations; Across-track scanning; Palmer scanning; footprint; terrain mapping;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1545-598X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LGRS.2008.916978

Filename

4505315