|
Practical use of geokosmos real-time cartography technologies based on Optech's airborne laser terrain mapping system  Dr. Evgeny Medvedev Email: evgeniy_medvedev@geokosmos.ru Geokosmos, Moscow, Russia Telephone number: +7(095)959-4080 Fax number: +7(095)959-4093 Website:www.geokosmos.ru  Daina Vagners Email: dainav@optech.on.ca Optech Inc., Toronto, ON Canada Telephone number: +1(416)661-5904 Fax number: +1(416)661-4168 Website:www.optech.on.ca Abstract Optech, Inc. is a manufacturer of an airborne laser instrument called an Airborne Laser Terrain Mapper (ALTM). This hardware system is non-obtrusive way to acquire very detailed elevation data for survey purposes. Using Optech's ALTM is an essential part of Geokosmos "real time mapping” technology ". This year Geokosmos has carried out more than 1000 hours of aerial survey missions with the ALTM 2050 system all over the territory of the Russian Federation. A huge amount of data has been collected and processed. Geokosmos has hired skilled and experienced specialists who are confident in all aspects of the laser scanning method - on-board operating, on-field geodetic support, and survey data processing. Among the many clients of Geokosmos there are a few main ones such as gas exploration monopoly "Gasprom" and a leading power engineering company RAO EES. The main applications of Geokosmos activities are topography, land use and engineering inspections. The company has created the complete technology of its own for "real time mapping" based on laser scanning with ALTM. The technology comprises of a set of auxiliary aerial survey tools (digital aerial cameras, GPS and GLONASS receivers, data recorders, mounting system and so on), ALTEXIS software and methodology. The main reason is the highest increase of productivity of all technological stages of topography map making. As a result the complete topography map of a 1:2000 scale for the territory offew thousand square miles can be done with such a technology within a two-week period. For example Geokosmos has made more than 50000 square km of large scale mapping this season. Geokosmos exposes its real time mapping technology for sale. Power lines inspection with ALTM laser scanning is one of the core lines of the company activity. The technology proposed by Geokosmos is already the national standard in Russia. More than 35000 km of high-voltage power lines are to be surveyed with this method in Russia for the next three years under the national program of privatization of the power engineering industry. 1.0 Overview of Optech inc. Following is a brief overview of Optech and one of the products that the company manufactures and develops the Airborne Laser Terrain Mapper (ALTM). Optech is the world’s leading manufacturer of Lidar instruments for the surveying industry. It is a Canadian company with 30 years of experience in the development and manufacture of laser-based instruments for airborne terrain surveying, airborne hydrographic surveying, space landers, atmospheric monitoring, and process control. The ALTM is a compact laser instrument that is mounted onto an airborne platform, and flown over the survey area. It efficiently and accurately obtains 3-D digital topographic data in a very short period of time. With typical fixed-wing aircraft speeds of 70 m/s and 1-km flight altitude, data can be collected at a rate of 3 km2/min. It can also be installed in helicopter platforms for low-speed surveys. As the laser is an active sensor, data collection can be conducted even at night. It can also penetrate forest canopy, making it possible for you to produce bare earth Digital Elevation Models of the forested land. All these qualities make the ALTM ideal for applications such as:
Optech’s ALTM offers a seamless end to end land survey solution, from survey flight planning, data acquisition and processing to generation of XYZ data points. To date, Optech has over 50 ALTM systems worldwide, representing more than 70% of all airborne Lidar systems in use. To summarize the technology’s distinct advantages over more conventional survey and aerial mapping methods:
 Fig. 1 The laser image of toronto water front. the data is collected by means of the latest Optech ALTM 30/70 with 70 kHz laser scanner
Page 1 of 3
| Next | |