Zhigang Leica Geosystems, Inc.

15D

Leica TerrainMapper is the new generation of linear-mode airborne topographic LiDAR system with a maximum Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) of 2MHz. Although a single-detector, single wavelength system, the high PRF coupled with highly dynamic operational altitudes (300m – 5500m AGL) presents great challenges to the performance and accuracy of the system. When operated at high PRF, the returned laser pulses can frequently cross numerous Multiple Pulses in Air (MPiA) zone boundaries and cause confusion for conventional “tracking-based” MPiA algorithms. The newly developed and novel gateless MPiA algorithm and innovative optical components for detecting near field noise are coupled together to seamlessly assign the incoming valid return pulses to the correct MPiA zone. Leica TerrainMapper is a part of Leica RealTerrain solution and the high performance Leica HxMap workflow incorporates this novel MPiA processing scheme.  HxMap also fully supports LiDAR calibration, point cloud colorization, quality assurance, and production generation.

We present an introduction of these latest MPiA algorithms along with the error analysis and evaluation of Leica TerrainMapper data for different terrain types including very tall urban manmade structures and high relief mountains, both of which present technical challenges due to MPiA “zone skipping”. We also compare the data to adjacent flight lines and densely collected ground control points to examine the relative and absolute accuracies.

16:00 A New High-Performance Airborne Lidar System with Gateless MPiA Algorithms, Zhigang Pan