Airborne Lidar and Thermal Imaging for Bluesky

The UK-based aerial surveying company Bluesky International has purchased an Optech airborne mapping system, which includes anALTMlidar sensor as well as a fully integrated long-wave infrared thermal sensor and high-resolution ortho camera. The system combines the Optech Orion M300ALTMwith Optech's CM-LWIR640 and CS-10000 cameras.

The system chosen by Bluesky offers data precision and accuracy, and is a compact system, offering flexibility in installation and use. Specifically designed as a cost-effective, high-performance solution at mid-altitudes, the Orion M300 is suited for applications such as power line mapping, transport infrastructure modelling, environmental monitoring, flood risk analysis and forestry management. It will enable Bluesky to capture highly accurate, high-density 3D measurements which they will use to create specialty map products such as the UK’s first solar potential map and 3D city models.

The thermal sensor records infrared measurements to identify heat loss from buildings and monitoring pipelines. It can be used simultaneously with the Lidar or independently, depending on customer requirements. The camera captures images of the target sites and can also be used simultaneously with the other two sensors, providing customers with a wealth of coincident information for their area of interest: a complete solution and substantial savings with simultaneous data acquisition capability.