Laser Scanning for the Environmental Sciences

Airborne and terrestrial laser scanning (LiDAR) are well-established methods for gathering precise and reliable 3D geo-information, and innovative tools for DEM generation, landscape modelling and analysis. As the technology matures to become standard practice for recording complex topography, a change of emphasis is required; moving from innovative data capture to systematic surveying frameworks with well-established data collection and analytical protocols. Laser Scanning for the Environmental Sciences draws on the experiences of leading international experts and reviews the range of sensors and platforms available. Data acquisition, instrumentation, deployment, survey design and data processing are described, and application of the technologies in a range of ecosystems and for a variety of purposes discussed. Other topics covered in detail are scale issues, databases, software requirements and methods for DEM construction in a range of environmental systems. The book is written for academic researchers, environmental professionals and graduate students, and puts innovative surveying into a broader context as a basis for ecosystem planning and management.

List of Contributors, vii Preface, ix 1 Laser Scanning – Evolution of the Discipline, 1 Andrew R.G Large and George L Heritage 2 Principles of 3D Laser Scanning, 21 George L Heritage and Andrew R.G Large 3 Issues in Laser Scanning, 35 Martin E Charlton, Seamus J Coveney and Timothy McCarthy 4 Airborne LiDAR: Instrumentation, Data Acquisition and Handling, 49 Bernard Devereux and Gabriel Amable 5 Geostatisical Analysis of LiDAR Data, 67 Chris Brunsdon 6 Laser Scanning: Data Quality, Protocols and General Issues, 82 David Hetherington 7 Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Derive Surface Grain Size Facies Character of Gravel Bars, 102 Neil S Entwistle and Ian C Fuller 8 Airborne Laser Scanning: Methods for Processing and Automatic Feature Extraction for Natural Artificial objects, 115 Christoph Straub, Yungsheng Wang and Octavian Iercan 9 Terrestrial Laser Scan-derived Topographic and Roughness Data for Hydraulic Modelling of Gravel-bed Rivers, 133 David J.Milan 10 Airborne LiDAR Measurements to Quantify Change in Sandy Beaches, 147 Michael J Starek, K Clint Slatton, Ramesh L Shrestha and William E Carter 11 LiDAR in the Environmental Sciences: Geological Applications, 165 David Hodgetts 12 Using LiDAR in Archaeological Contexts: The English Heritage Experience and Lessons Learned, 180 Simon Crutchley 13 Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Measuring Vegetation Canopy Structure, 201 F.M Danson, F Morsdorf and B Koetz 14 Flood Modelling and Vegetation Mapping in Large River Systems, 220 Ian C Overton, Anders Siggins, John C Gallant, David Penton and Guy Byrne 15 Laser Scanning Surveying of Linear Features: Considerations and Applications, 245 Michael Lim, Jon Mills and Nicholas Rosser 16 Laser Scanning: The Future, 262 Andrew R.G Large, George L Heritage and Martin E Charlton Index, 273 Color plates appear in between pages 150–151