PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZATION OF A MOBILE LIDAR SYSTEM: EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED VARIABLES

Achieving results that meet the requirements of any survey project requires knowledge and deep understanding of the performance capabilities of the survey equipment. Mobile lidar scanning, which has emerged as the preferred operational tool in remote sensing, surveying and mapping, is demonstrating outstanding capabilities in generating high-accuracy spatial data for a wide range of applications. Although manufacturers of mobile lidar systems provide accuracy specifications and other instrument characteristics in a spec sheet, such specifications are often potentially misleading due to the complexity of new technologies, and the interplay of factors affecting the quality of lidarderived end products. This paper represents a manufacturer's effort to clarify the issue of characterizing a mobile lidar system’s performance. The impacts of the operating parameters, the performance of lidar subsystems such as GPS/INS and the laser scanner on overall system performance, various sources of errors, and data accuracy are investigated. The demonstrated results help to avoid misinterpretations of lidar instrument performance specifications, thereby bridging the manufacturer’s approach to characterize mobile lidar performance with the expectations of lidar service providers and lidar data end users.