• Why should I use LiDAR?
• What do I need to provide Airborne 1 to start the proposal process for my quick quote or inquiry?
• How do I know what deliverables I need/want from Airborne 1?
• What kind of weather can Airborne 1 work in?
• Can LiDAR penetrate vegetation?

Question: 
Why should I use LiDAR?

Answer:
LiDAR is a wonderful addition to your current surveying and photogrammetric services.  If you are not a photogrammetry or surveying firm but outsource to one, Airborne 1 is happy to coordinate with your current provider to ensure your complete satisfaction.  LiDAR offers faster turnaround times, better accuracy, and it is cheaper than traditional methods.  Airborne 1 is an easy way for smaller photogrammetry and surveying firms to be able to offer complete LiDAR services and remain competitive in the marketplace. 

Question: 
What do I need to provide Airborne 1 to start the proposal process for my quick quote or inquiry?

Answer:
Either a SHP (.shp) or DXF (.dxf) file is most preferred.  The coordinates of the project along with a JPG (.jpg) or PDF (.pdf) image of the project area would work as well.   You can go on Google Earth to find out what your project's limits (a.k.a. coordinates) are.  If you are able to, please provide us up-front the vertical and horizontal coordinate systems you would like to use.  This will help make the process go that much faster.

Question: 
How do I know what deliverables I need/want from Airborne 1?

Answer:
Airborne 1 can help you with almost anything LiDAR related.  To help you figure out exactly what your project requires here are some brief descriptions of the deliverables you can request:

• The Intensity value is a grayscale reflectance value of the laser from the surface and when viewed gives the appearance of a low resolution black and white image.  It is included as an additional column of data in all but the grid files.
  
  
• Bare Earth Ground points file is all of the last pulse points after features (vegetation, buildings, etc.) have been extracted using automated extraction software.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).
  
  
• Extracted features are the last pulse points that have been extracted from the ground surface.  They include all vegetation, buildings and other artifacts in the same layer.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).
  
  
• Contours are CAD .dxf or .dwg files of contours generally created from the regularly-spaced gridded Bare Earth Ground Points.
  
  
• All Points are the unclassified last or first pulse LiDAR point cloud containing both ground and features on one layer.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).
  
  
• Our ALTM sensors are dual return sensors.  The 1st Pulse gives a return from the first surface hit and the last pulse gives a return from the last surface hit, where there are objects obstructing the ground (buildings, trees, etc.).  1st Pulse data is especially useful for canopy modeling and powerline mapping.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).
  
  
• Model Keypoints are files derived from the Bare Earth Ground points and are essentially an ‘intelligent’ data decimation.  The algorithm works by thinning out the data more in areas of little relief but keeping more points where there are breaks or changing terrain.  Less information is lost than when using a regularly-spaced grid while still creating more manageable file sizes.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).
  
  
• Grid Points are a file of regularly-spaced points representing the Bare Earth Ground surface.  Contours derived from gridded ground points will be aesthetically smoother than those derived from the bare earth ground points.  Increasing the grid size improves the aesthetics of the contours but compromises their accuracy.  Format is E (Easting) N (Northing) Z (Elevation) I (Intensity).

Question: 
What kind of weather can Airborne 1 work in?

Answer:
We fly on windy days and through smoke.  We are also able to fly below the clouds and at night as LiDAR is an active light system.  However, as with everything there are exceptions.  With each project we will take into account the specific conditions and your requirements before flying.  We are not able to fly in heavy rain or dense fog.  If we fly with snow on the ground we will only capture the snow surface and not the ground below.

Question: 
Can LiDAR penetrate vegetation?

Answer:
No, but it can get through the voids in the vegetation canopy.  A simple rule of thumb – if sunlight can get through, so can LiDAR.  This ensures that you know what the ground looks like without special ground expeditions.