First ALS LIDAR Project

Airborne Laser Solutions (South Africa) has undertaken the first aerial lidar survey project in its new Rockwell Aero Commander 1000 aircraft. This survey is required for the route selection and design of a 220km-power line linking Tete in Mozambique and Blantyre in Malawi. The company’s prime equipment currently consists of an Optech 3033 ALTM LiDAR system combined with a Hasselblad camera and Phase One digital back. With this equipment in the Aero Commander ALS is able to generate terrain models at 50cm to 10cm vertical accuracy, and colour digital orthophotos at pixel ground resolution ranging from 50cm to 10cm. The twin-engine plane has a cruising speed of 285 knots and a range of 1,600 nautical miles, allowing the company to mobilise to anywhere in Africa within a day and to other continents in less than two days. This is far less than the time required for freighting its equipment by air, especially as customs clearance is eliminated. As the installation of the equipment is an approved modification, civil aviation requirements are also minimised.