MAPPING THE GLOBE IN 3-D WITH LASERS
Image: JOSH ROERING/UNIVERSITY OF OREGON/NATIONAL CENTER FOR AIRBORNE LASER MAPPING/NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Laser technology mounted on airplanes can map Earth's surface with uncanny precision and detail. The systems have been used to study floods, landslides, snowpacks and just about anything else under the sun that can enhance understanding of the natural processes happening around us. Employed by the military, meteorologists, astronomers, conservationists and even automotive engineers, it can spit out three-dimensional models of a distant surface and is accurate within an inch or two (three to five centimeters).
First used by NASA in the mid-1980s, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), aka airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), is now commercially available. And in 2003, the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping was created (with funding from the National Science Foundation) in partnership with the University of Florida and the University of California, Berkeley to promote the use of ALSM in ongoing research—and so far it has even pinpointed at least one previously unknown fault line (near Puget Sound, WA).
Slide Show: Laser Mapping Reveals New Details of Earth's Surface
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13 Comments
Add Comment"Employed by the military, meteorologists, astronomers, conservationists and even automotive engineers, it can spit out three-dimensional models of a distant surface.."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"it can spit out" ?
This is one horrible use of English language.
Is there value in this technique for finding buried archeologiical sites?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs there value in this technique for finding buried archeologiical sites?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor that purpose you better shoul use deep soil radar sensors.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor that purse you should use deep soil penetratig radar.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI hear an echo
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMay be it can help to find hidden old cities in the jungle, perhaps mayan and inca's cities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismay be it can helpto find hidden cities in the jungle,perhaps mayan and inca's cities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo Can lazer mapping find hidden ancient reins in the amazon rain forest.If so i know at least 20 places in brazil where they may find something intreasting.Can it map the bottom of the ocean and find hidden ships wrecks.Hidden ship wrecks filled with hundread of millions in unclaimed treasure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLazer mapping could find hidden ancient reins in the amazon rain forest.If so i know 20 areas where they could find something really intreasting.Lazer mapping could find hidden ship wrecks under the sea.There could be hundreads of millions of dollars in sunken treasure to be found.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisALSM can certainly be used to map ancient ruins hidden under heavy vegetation, but the near infrared light produced by the lasers used on most systems does not penetrate water, so it is not much good for locating ship wrecks. There are ALSM systems that use green lasers that do penetrate water, but generally only to depths of a few tens of meters, even in clear water.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisALSM can certainly be used to find and map ruins of old structures or mounds under dense vegetation, but the near infrared light produced by the lasers used in most systems does not penetrate water and would not be of much good for finding ship wrecks. Systems with lasers that produce green light can penetrate water, but generally less than 100 feet even in relatively clear coastal waters.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisALSM can certainly be used to find and map ancient buildings and mounds under dense vegetation, but the infrared light produced by the lasers most systems does not penetrate water and would not be useful for finding ship wrecks. Systems with green lasers can penetrate water, but generally only to less than 100 feet even in clear coastal water.
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