New airborne laser scanning system to be used for urban mapping project in U.S.
Just one day after introducing its LMS-Q1560 dual channel, airborne laser scanning system, RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems announced it has sold the first one to longtime customer, GeoDigital International Inc., based in Toronto, Canada.
RIEGL debuted the new system at its RIEGL LIDAR 2013 user conference, which kicked off Tuesday in historic Vienna, Austria with over 250 3D imaging professionals, representing over 40 countries, attending.
The deal was announced at a press luncheon Wednesday, where Riegl CEO Dr. Johannes Riegl and GeoDigital CEO Alastair Jenkins signed the sale agreement.
The LMS-Q1560 is equipped with an integrated high-performance IMU/GNSS system and 80-megapixel camera, with an optional second integrated camera, making it “ideally suited” for aerial survey of ultra wide areas and complex urban environments, Riegl said, claiming it has the highest point density and best point spacing in the marketplace.
The new system has “best-in-class” multi-target capability and accuracy using echo digitization and full waveform analysis/online waveform processing for data acquisition from all altitudes, Riegl said. This enables it to take up to 800,000 measurements per second with an effective measurement rate of about 532,000 measurements per second on the ground. It can scan 300 square kilometers per hour at a range of 2,000 meters flying at a speed of 110 knots, according to Riegl.
Range ambiguities due to terrain elevation changes are automatically resolved by RIEGL’s multiple time around (MTA) processing software, RiMTA. The software manages up to 10 pulses in the air, simultaneously, Riegl said.
Jenkins said the new system will initially be employed on a fixed-wing aircraft for an urban mapping application in the United States to produce imagery and 3D models.
“Riegl has truly outdone themselves,” Jenkins said. “They have set a new benchmark for performance” with the LMS-Q1560, which will allow his company to “fly higher and fly faster” on large-scale mapping projects.
Jenkins said the purchase of the new system will replace plans to use two RIEGL LMSQ-780 airborne laser scanners. Dr. Riegl pointed out using the LMS-Q1560 will actually be cheaper than using the two 780 systems. The price of the LMS-Q1560 is reportedly over $1 million.
