Optech Galaxy’s SwathTRAK Wins 2016 MAPPS Grand Award
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Optech Galaxy’s SwathTRAK Wins 2016 MAPPS Grand Award

Teledyne Optech has announced that the Optech Galaxy airborne Lidar system has won the 2016 MAPPS Grand Award for Technology.  With its SwathTRAK technology, the Galaxy vastly increases operational efficiency and data consistency in low- to high-relief terrain.

Traditional Lidar scanners utilise a fixed field of view (FOV), which presents challenges in varying terrain. Flying over a hill reduces the swath width on the ground, while flying over a valley increases the relative swath width, affecting the relative point density. SwathTRAK technology is developed to resolve this problem with a dynamic FOV scanner that adjusts the FOV when the range to the ground changes so that the swath width on the ground remains constant at all times.

SwathTRAK is an industry first and represents a huge increase in productivity and area coverage rates for wide-area mapping applications, so Teledyne Optech is proud to receive a MAPPS Grand Award for it, said Michel Stanier, general manager of the company. Previously, Lidar operators needed to fly many extra flightlines in high-relief terrain to make sure that they achieved the required point density. SwathTRAK reduces the number of flightlines compared to fixed-FOV sensors and maintains a constant swath width over ground. One of the Galaxy clients reported that they could fly more than 40% fewer flightlines with SwathTRAK, which will dramatically reduce their operating costs and overall survey time, Stanier added.

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