geoinformatics 2012 vol05

Hexagon 2012 Bentley Map V8i (SELECTseries 3) Google Maps Coordinate Terrestrial Laser Scanners

Magazine for Survey ing, Mapping & GIS Profess iona ls July/August2 0 1 2Volume 15

5Prod_GEO512_Prod GEO66 29-06-12 11:39 Pagina 1

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Exciting timesThese are exciting times for the geospatial industry. All eyes were on TomTom afterApple announced a partnership for a mapping service for their iOS platform.Since Apple didnt give away many details as to how these maps will appear orwhat their content will be, theres lots of speculation going on in cyberspace onwhat will be released. I think that all this coverage on Apples mapping app is abit premature, and there are plenty of other interesting things going on in geospa-tial. And although Google saw its maps replaced by Apple in its backend, thatwont keep Google or its Maps off its smartphones or tablets since they announcedthe release its own Maps app for iOS6.

Google has been very active lately in the geospatial area: not only did theyannounce offline mapping capabilities for Android, but also fancy 3D City mod-els for Google Earth on mobile devices and backpacks that can be used for indoormapping; a feature Google has been working on since November last year. Thisdoes not solve the problem of using a GPS inside a building, but its one step clos-er to mapping indoors. Last but not least, they announced a new initiative calledGoogle Maps Coordinate, a new mobile service for companies and organiza-tions with field workers. And not only did they hire 300 visual data-specialists aspart of a one-year project to correct mistakes in Google Maps, they alsoannounced lower pricing and simplified limits with the Google Maps API clearlya sign that Google is serious about its user base and, as competition is fierce, isin responser to the market demand for updated and more reliable maps.

Another area where there is tough competition is the car-navigation market.TomTom noticed the competition with built-in car navigation systems, and is nowturning its attention to providing services rather than just maps to third parties. Arecently released geocoder helps TomTom to find out where more mapping is need-ed and helps businesses with the geocoding of addresses. But even built-in carnavigation can compete with mobile devices that offer turn-by-turn, with Applebeing the last manufacturer that hadnt offered these service yet. The TomTom part-nership, turn-by-turn navigation will become a reality, but what is con-fusing is that TomTom now seems to be in direct competition withitself, since Apple sells a TomTom navigation app for iPhone butwill offer the same through the new mapping app for iOS6.

Last but not least is the recent announcement of Esris ArcGIS Onlineorganizational subscriptions. What they are offering is a sub-scription model to use of Esris SaaS ArcGIS Online. Mostimportant is that Esri is shifting its focus to making geographyand geographic knowledge ubiquitous in institutions andin society in general. This means that GIS is no longera back-office technology and an experts domain these are the big statements made by Esri president JackDangermond in a recent interview in an online publica-tion called Computerworld. This new release willundoubtedly be covered in detail in our future editions.

Enjoy your reading,

Eric van [email protected]

GeoInformatics is the leading publication for GeospatialProfessionals worldwide. Published in both hardcopy anddigital, GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis andcommentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.GeoInformatics is published 8 times a year.

Editor-in-chiefEric van Rees [email protected]

EditorsFlorian [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Contributing Writers:Martin Pfennigbauer, Peter Rieger, Mark Plews,Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk, Remco Takken, Adam Spring,Gottfried Konecny

ColumnistsMark Reichardt, Matt Sheehan

[email protected]

Marketing & SalesRuud [email protected]

SubscriptionsGeoInformatics is available against a yearly subscription rate (8 issues) of 89,00.To subscribe, fill in and return the electronic replycard on our website www.geoinformatics.com

Webstitewww.geoinformatics.com

Graphic DesignSander van der [email protected]

ISSN 13870858

Copyright 2012. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.

P.O. Box 2318300 AEEmmeloordThe NetherlandsTel.: +31 (0) 527 619 000 Fax: +31 (0) 527 620 989 E-mail: [email protected]

GeoInformatics has a collaboration withthe Council of European GeodeticSurveyors (CLGE) whereby all individualmembers of every national Geodeticassociation in Europe will receive themagazine.

3July/August 2012

Photo

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w.be

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C o n t e n t

A r t i c l e sScanning the Seas in South Florida 10

Ordnance Survey Great Britain is mapping the now 14

Technology Developments in Terrestrial Laser Scanners 20

TomToms Global Geocoder 28

Bentley Maps V8i (SELECTseries 3) 32

GNSS Update 34

Google Maps Coordinate 48

Essays on Geography and GIS Vol. 4 51

I n t e r v i e wRolta: Evolving and Expanding 18

N e w s l e t t e rCLGE newsletter 6

C o l u m n sDeveloping Apps on Mobile 30

What Could Speed Up the Reality of an Arctic SDI? 46

E v e n t sHexagon 2012 38

Faro European User Meeting 2012 42

FIG Working Week 2012 44

32nd Symposium EARSeL 53

C a l e n d a r / A d v e r t i s e r s I n d e x 54

At the cover:Gladiator Fire, Mayer, Arizona-May 17, 2012: This is a false color satelliteimage of the Gladiator Fire in Mayer, Arizona. In this image the burnt areasare dark blue and red is healthy vegetation, smoke from the fire is mostlywhite. Flames can be seen along an active fire line on the left portion of theimage. Image (c) 2012 DigitalGlobe, Inc.


10

32

6Several years ago, CLGE has

started the First STEP programme. First STEP is an

acronym for First Students andTrainees Exchange

Programme. The name is alsoa symbol for the First STEP inprofessional life, facilitated byexperience gathered abroad.

18

The latest release of BentleyMap V8i further streamlines ge-ospatial workflows through ex-tended support for spatial data-

bases, OGC Web Services,point clouds, and scalable ter-

rain models (STMs).

Indian system-integrator Roltahas substantially expanded

internationally over the years,and has transformed itself into a

global spatial-system integrator, providing informationin an integral way. The compa-ny has many further plans for

Europe and recently announceda partnership with GeoEye.

From March 12th throughMarch 16th, 2012, RIEGL carried out an extendedbathymetric test with the

new VQ-820-G hydrograp-hic airborne laser scanning

system in South Florida.

28TomToms global geocoder willbenefit both businesses and the

company itself, says DanAdams, VP Location and LiveServices at TomTom. This newservice will not only enable

businesses to conduct locationanalysis but also will help

TomTom streamline its internalgeocoding processes.

14In response to changing market demands and an

evolving economic environ-ment, Ordnance Survey

wanted to adopt a new wayof operating; maintaining the

national database and delivering both new andupdated product lines.

2038

The development of terrestriallaser scanner technology

continues apace with ever-greater ranges (distances)

being measured at ever-higherrates in all the different

categories of these scanners.

From June 4th until June 7th2012, some 3,300 attendeeswitnessed presentations of newtechnologies coming out of ERD-

AS, Intergraph, Leica andMetrology at Hexagon 2012

in Las Vegas.


IntroductionIn the course of our surveying engineering curriculum at the coleSuprieure des Gomtres et Topographes, we carried out a six-week-traineeship at the Belgian Institut Gographique National (IGN) in Brussels.

The IGN premises are located in the old Abbey of La Cambre in the heartof Brussels. The place is very beautiful, with all the buildings surroundedby gardens la franaise. Working in the centre of Brussels, but yetwith this natural scenery was quite enjoyable to say the least. ()

Traineeship reportWe had to organise ourselves in order to mark out the area of study,gather information, carry out tests, prepare a report and make an oralpresentation.

The update of administrative boundaries by Pierrick:Currently, at IGN Belgium there are multiple geographical data-sets con-cerning administrative boundaries. (...) In addition to the data available atIGN there are also other data providers such as the land registry ofce,which is currently digitizing its data under the CADMAP-project. All ofthese data-sets are different from each other, so we had to compare theaccuracy of the data and nd out which is the closest to reality?

All these factors create representational differences between the geograph-ical databases, which is a problem for both the data producers and theusers when it comes to updating (for example extra cost, time loss, etc.).

I started off by creating a state-of-the-art review of Belgian administrativeboundaries. Then I examined the existing data sources both within theIGN as well as outside. The core of my study consisted of comparing ITGIsand land registry ofces data. I also tried to build updated scenarios forthis data.

The update of hydrographical data by Ophlie:This issue needed to be tackled according to various aspects: tech-nical, personnel, funding, and cooperation with the regions. Toachieve that, I rst evaluated the quality of the Topogeographicalinventory of IGN Belgium. Then, I examined the possible solutionsfor achieving updates and brought forward four scenarios.

Making geographical information systems (GIS) available requiresthe denition of metadata, where accurate data is a priority. At pre-sent, it is difcult for the IGN to evaluate and above all improve thegaps. At the rst stage, I tested the planimetrical and altimetricalgaps between the reality on the eld measured by GPS and IGNsdata. Then I calculated the accuracy of test datasets coming fromexternal sources. In Belgium, the IGN is not the only institution pro-ducing geographical data. The Walloon and Flemish regions workindependently and have their own hydrographical data: the PICC(Projet Informatique de Cartographie Continue) and the VHA(Vlaamse Hydrograsche Atlas). Yet, these representations are not

July/August 20126

N e w s l e t t e r

[email protected] Report byPierrick and OphlieSeveral years ago, CLGE has started the First STEP programme. First STEP is an acronym for FirstStudents and Trainees Exchange Programme. The name is also a symbol for the First STEP in profes-sional life, facilitated by experience gathered abroad.We always have had sufficient candidates from the students and trainees side. However, on the com-panies side, weve experienced a lack of commitment. We therefore renew our plea to those compa-nies: join us in our effort to give students or young surveyors a first chance. Within this programme,its up to both parties to define the conditions for this exchange. Since the hosting of a student bringsresponsibilities, the payment of the trainees is not a must or at least, it shouldnt be regarded as aninsurmountable hurdle.Hereafter we produce a report of two students who visited the Belgian NGI.More information can be found on www.clge.eu, follow the First STEP banner or simply contact MichelleCamilleri ([email protected]).

First STEP Banner on the CLGE website www.clge.eu

Michelle Camilleri Reports about First STEP


seamless and the IGN is the only data provider covering the wholeterritory. So the most recent and, whenever possible, the most accuratedata of the regions could be used to update IGNs data. I examinedthe possibility of updating geodata rst by stereoplotting, then usingexternal sources and nally using thalwegs from the DTM. These var-ied tasks allowed me to meet a lot of people and to have valuable dis-cussions.()

Read the full report on www.clge.eu/trainee_program

7Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.comJuly/August 2012

N e w s l e t t e r

Pierrick Billon at his desk Neighbouring Ophlie Petit

Polska Geodezja Komercyjna

The 20th Anniversary of PolishCommercial GeodesyGeodesy has celebrated its 20th anniversary in Warsaw. CLGE President Jean-Yves Pirlot assisted tothe solemn part of this event and gave a presentation about CLGEs commitment for the profession.It gave us the opportunity to interview Florian Romanowski, who answered our question with enthusi-asm. At this very occasion he received the highest distinction for a geodesist from the hands of theDirector General of the Polish Mapping and Cadastral Agency.

Tell us more about the Anniversary that you havecelebrated on 13 April 2012?In 1989 in Poland, not only the democratic system started but marketlead economy was implemented as well. A lot of new small, private com-panies appeared in the market-place and additionally the big RegionalLand Surveying Companies (until then owned by government) started aprivatisation process.

In 1992 the association Polish Commercial Geodesy was established by14 companies. Now there are 24 members with 2000 employees. Oneof the conditions to become a member is to be a company having atleast 20 employees.

The main reason for establishing such an organization was to solve com-mon problems in tandem with the General Surveyor of Poland and otheradministrative bodies on central level. Our interest was particularly direct-ed towards the legislative processes. We also took initiatives in facilitat-ing our participation in big GI projects based on European funds.

This 20th anniversary is obviously an occasion for our organisation toshow to the whole Polish surveying society and to different administrativebodies, what we have been doing during these years and what we planfor the coming future.

What is the most crucial point to be solved in Polishsurveying?There are a few of them, in my opinion: how to be competitive not only in the Polish market-place, but at

European level also, how to encourage our customers to use advanced technologies in pro-

jects: laser scanning (Aerial and terrestrial), photogrammetry,

Geographic Information Systems, etc.. how to update existing law and standards to modern technologies and

organisation forms, how to convince our customers that not only the price, but competency

and advanced technology are important factors in the tendering pro-cesses and should be taken into account,

how to keep a high level of education in Surveying and GISDepartments of the Technical Universities with regard to the large num-bers of students that enter these courses,

one of the crucial points is the organization of Polish surveying admin-istration. For the time being it is slightly complicated. All assets thecadastre, maps of all kind and data bases are owned by government,but at the regional and local level the municipalities (on behalf of gov-ernment) are responsible for operating them. This tends to create a lotof local regulation, and in fact it can lead to a variation in local stan-dards which does not help in managing them. This is particularly appar-ent when some GIS systems are created. Much time is spent in effortsto harmonize the data sourced from the many regional and local author-ities. We, as a surveying society, have been discussing this issue formany years and have strived to dene which organisation structurewould be the best one.

We have suggested various solutions, taking into consideration how thisis managed in different European countries, but the decision is obviouslynot in our hands.

Is membership of CLGE an important issue for thePolish Commercial Geodesy?The organizations gathered in CLGE share a lot of common problems. Itis much more effective if we can solve them together. The exchange ofinformation among members of CLGE is worth mentioning. There are sev-


N e w s l e t t e r

8July/August 2012

eral new members of CLGE from so called previous socialist countrieswhere market lead economy is something new. We nd that CLGE is anappropriate friendly place for such discussions. We should not forget theinteresting technical and organisational issues that we address during theworkshops, and the informal contacts.

As Polish Commercial Geodesy is the body representing 24 companieson national level, we recognize CLGE as our representative on theEuropean level. The European Parliament is a place where essential ques-tions for Europe are treated. We, surveyors and GIS specialists, have adeep interest to have inuence on what is going on at European Level.Our representatives, Parliament members, should be aware of what ourprofession means and how we can help Europe to be more competitiveon the world arena. We are a relatively small interest group and that iswhy we have to be better organised than other ones, representing hugeand powerful professions.

What are CLGEs most important initiatives in youreyes?The present CLGE Board is very active and well organized. Its work con-tinues from the work of the previous Board and also takes on interestingnew initiatives.

The CLGE Code of Conduct is the basis for the future for all of the organ-isations gathered in CLGE. In Poland (as in many other countries) wealready have a similar document-CODE. The General Assembly ofPolish Commercial Geodesy will have to revisit this issue once more anddecide on which level we will endorse this CLGE Code of Conduct (adop-tion, ratifying, transposition, acknowledgement).

On several occasions we have discussed at the CLGE General Assembly,the problem concerning the mapping of under-ground services and facili-ties. In our opinion this is an essential issue in all European countries.About 40 % of city assets are located underground. We believe that nowis a good time to start the compilation of a European Cadastre in this

eld. CLGE should promote the issuing of a Directive at the EUParliament or Commission level. If such a Directive is issued, then thisCadastre would become Law throughout the EU.

Town municipalities and governments are deeply interested in such infor-mation for many purposes but especially for utility management in crisissituations (currently information is spread up in different utility companiesbut not combined and not standardised). In Poland we started to collectdata concerning underground facilities in 1975. That means that we havequite a detailed foundation to start with.We believe that this work area could be a good solution for those sur-veyors previously involved in development projects (building, motorways,highways, etc.) where the economic crisis has had the greatest negativeeffect.The Day of the European Surveyor (Mercator Day) is a wise initiative ofCLGE. During this day we ran national conferences in which we present-ed talks on topics of interest for surveyors in the present work environ-ment. The main event will be held in a different location each year. Thisis a good occasion to promote our profession.

What are your plans regarding CLGE in the comingmonths?In the coming months our President Mr. Waldemar Klocek will appoint aspecial team for the Board of Polish Commercial Geodesy devoted forCLGE activities. I will present a report about the last CLGE GeneralAssembly in Edinburgh and discuss various CLGE documents, which willbe reviewed for consideration by our organization.

On behalf of our President Mr.Waldemar Klocek, President of PolishCommercial Geodesy, I would like to say a warm thank you to the CLGEpresident for his presence and address during the 20th Anniversary ofour association. That was not only a great honour for us, but it simultane-ously emphasised that Polish Commercial Geodesy is an important andvaluable member of CLGE.

16 January 1943 6 June 2012

In Memoriam Volkmar TeetzmannIn recent years, CLGE has lost too many delegates. After Marek Ziemak, FlixPeckels and Ain Jgi, its with deep regret, that we have to announce that ourformer Vice-president VolkmarTeetzmann has passed away on 6June 2012.

Our colleague and friend, Volkmar Teetzmann, from Germany,died after a 6 years struggle against illness. He was one of theleading European professional politicians in the last decennia.

Vokmar Teetzmann was former BDVI President (the German asso-ciation for publicly appointed surveyors), CLGE Vice President,Board member of Geometer Europas.Amongst other things he was one of the architects of the integra-tion of CLGE with Geometer Europas. He took an essential partin the 10 last years of CLGEs history. In 2010 he was awardedthe CLGE Honorary Membership.

In a few months or even weeks, when the rst sadness is over,we will remember Volkmar with a smile on our face. He was areal leader, the kind of man you want as your boss. He wasextremely committed to his job, very goal driven or focussed onresults and always loyal to his people. In my mind, he did notreally left us, since, whenever were in difcult situations, we willbe able to ask ourselves what would Volkmar do?. In this wayhe has educated us, he still leads us.

Jean-Yves Pirlot, CLGE President

If you want to know the latest news about CLGE on twitter, follow CLGEPresident.

1 3 8:12 AM


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RIEGL VQ-820-G Hydrographic Airborne Laser Scanning System Demo

Scanning the Seas in South FloridaFrom March 12th through March 16th, 2012, RIEGL carried out an extended bathymetric test with thenew VQ-820-G hydrographic airborne laser scanning system in South Florida. With assistance fromthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a broad spectrum of interested partieswas invited to the demonstration to showcase the new scanner and to highlight its capabilities. Theevent also allowed the attendees the opportunity to meet RIEGL experts and to examine the remark-able aspects of the VQ-820-G.

IntroductionRepetitive surveying of coastal strips, sea beds, and grounds of riversand lakes is becoming more and more essential to evaluate reservoirsedimentation, river or costal degradation, water ow and water leveldynamics, structure and zone variations of coastal areas, ood pre-vention, measurement for aggradation zones, monitoring of hydraulicslaboratories, surveying for hydraulic engineering, and hydro-archaeo-logical surveying. This can only be achieved in an effective way byemploying high-resolution airborne laser scanning.RIEGLs new hydrographic airborne laser scanner VQ-820-G is dedi-cated for this purpose. It enables the surveying of shallow water, ter-rain, manmade structures, and vegetation at a new level of spatial res-olution due to its high net measurement rate of up to 200 kHz and lowbeam divergence of 1 mrad. The scan mechanism is based on a rotat-ing multifacet mirror with the scan line tilted by about 20 degrees withrespect to the nominal nadir direction offering a wide eld of view of

10

A r t i c l e

By Martin Pfennigbauer and Peter Rieger

up to 60 degrees and a scan rate of up to 200 lines per second. With assistance from the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA), RIEGL carried out an extended bathymetrictest with the VQ-820-G hydrographic airborne laser scanning systemin South Florida from March 12th through March 16th, 2012. Thebathymetric demonstration took place in various locations of SouthFlorida, including Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Key West. The basis ofthe operation was located at the Westin Fort Lauderdale in FortLauderdale, Florida. Attendees of the demonstration included Aerometric, Airscan,Applanix, Applied Imagery, Dewberry, Fugro Pelagos, NAVO, NAV-OCEANO, NCALM, NGA, NOAA/NGS, NOAA/OCS,NOAA/OMAO, Photoscience, Scripps Institution of Oceanography atUCSD, Tuck Mapping, USACE/JALBTCX, USACE/ERDC, Woolpert,and Watershed Sciences.

The instrumentThe laser scanners range measurements for high resolution surveyingof underwater topography are carried out with a narrow, visible greenlaser beam at 532 nm, emitted from a powerful laser source connect-ed to the compact and lightweight scan head via an armored glassber cable. Depending on water turbidity this particular laser wave-length allows measuring into water providing 1 Secchi depth waterpenetration from eye safe altitude. The instrument performs echo digiti-

Fort Lauderdale Beach, as seen from the NOAATwin Otter, during the RIEGL VQ-820-G scan.

July/August 2012


A r t i c l e

zation and online waveform processing tohandle target situations with complex multiple echo signals by givingaccess to detailed target parameters. The incoming echoes are digitized at a sampling rate matched to thepulse width. In addition to online waveform processing echo wave-form data can concurrently be stored for full waveform processing bymeans of the optional waveform data output. For every target echo,the position, amplitude, and pulse deviation are determined. If theecho pulse is severely deteriorated by turbidity or multi-target returns,this will be signaled through an increased value of the scanners pulsedeviation and the corresponding waveform can then be analyzed withmore sophisticated algorithms if requested.Refraction is taken into account during post-processing of the data.After georeferencing the acquired point clouds, the water surface is

determined and targetsbelow the water surface areshifted to the correct posi-tion according to refraction(beam bending and wave-form compression). Basedon the data gained duringthe Florida tests, RIEGL nowhas developed softwaregenerating a detailedmodel of the water surfaceincluding waves to performa more efcient and accu-

rate treatment of refraction.The compact and rugged system has low require-ments with respect to space, power, and liftingcapacity of the aircraft. Its total weight is approx.26 kg, power consumption is less than 200 Wand it can easily be installed into existing andcertied airborne scanning platforms and hatch-es of standard size, used in any type of aircraftplatform, e.g., xed wing or helicopter.

RIEGL also provides the complete suite of software to cali-brate, acquire, process, geo-reference, and export the data. The com-bination of Lidar data with data acquired by topographic scanner sys-tems, high resolution RGB aerial images, or hyperspectral images canfurther extend the range of possibilities for subsequent research, moni-toring, and management.

The test campaignThe new VQ-820-G hydrographic airborne scanner was mounted inNOAAs Twin Otter together with an aerial camera system and ewfour test sites, not including the boresight calibration, at altitudes of2000 feet and typical speeds of 100 knots. The boresight calibrationfor the system was own over Tampa, FL. where a separate base sta-tion was set up. It resulted in a standard deviation of 2.13 cm. Flightplanning and laser safety reports were also prepared. Throughout thetests, 10 to 15 points per square meter were acquired and ocean pen-etration was 5 to 10 meters under normal sea state circumstancesor in other words, not perfect conditions. The test revealed excellent performance of the VQ820-G over shallowwater areas, canals, shallow water ways, shorelines, buildings andland. Excellent coverage was achieved in areas very demanding forconventional bathymetric technologies such as multibeam sonar sys-

11Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

RIEGL VQ-820-G hydrographicairborne laser scanner: com-pact and rugged scan headwith powerful laser unit

The RIEGL VQ-820-G hydrographic laserscanner together with an Applanix DSSset-up in the NOAA Twin Otter Point cloud of Fort Lauderdale.

July/August 2012


tems, side scan sonar systems, and current bathymetric LiDAR systems.The VQ-820-G achieved consistent results in less than perfect waterconditions. In some areas up to 10 m water penetration were achieved,although the extended NOHD, i.e. the distance where observation issafe even for the aided eye, was strictly observed. Especially in areaswith dense vegetation excellent results could be obtained. Due to thescanners multiple target capability, it is possible to discern water sur-face, bottom, and several returns coming from vegetation.

Attendees were impressed by the simplicity of the integration, the instal-lation, and the operation of the VQ-820-G, as well as the ease andspeed of data processing:The VQ-820-G topobathymetric LiDAR demonstration in FortLauderdale, Florida was a great success! The preliminary results thatwere presented immediately following the data acquisition showed theability of the system to obtain seamless topography and bathymetry(up to 5 m water depth) in a single overflight. The short laser pulseenabled mapping of submerged topography in the 0 2 m depth zone;which is typically very difficult to map with traditional bathymetric

LiDARs. The very high pulse repetition rate of the RIEGL VQ-820-G pro-duced a very dense seamless topo-bathy dataset, ideal for mapping incoastal and riverine environments. Amar Nayegandhi, Manager ofElevation Technologies at Dewberry.

NOAA has great interest in topographic-bathymetric lidar mappingtechnology, which can provide seamless, high-resolution data acrossthe land-water interface. These data can be used to simultaneously sup-port a wide range of coastal mapping and science applications inNOAA, ranging from nautical charting, to coastal zone management,to coral reef habitat mapping. We are honored to partner with otherfederal agencies, academia, and the private sector in testing andadvancing this important new technology. Mike Aslaksen, Chief ofNOOAs Remote Sensing Division.

Highlights of the eventOne key thing to note is the data was processed in full view of all ofthe attendees. There was a broad spectrum of attendees at the eventwith representatives from government agencies, private industries, pub-

A r t i c l e

12July/August 2012


RIEGL VQ-820-GNEW

Highlights RIEGL VQ-820-G

RiACQUIRE: data acquisition & online visualizationRiWAVELib: optional waveform data outputRiMTA: automated resolution

of range ambiguitiesRiPROCESS: data management & processingRiWORLD: scan data transformation into

global coordinates

RIEGL ALS Software

Hydrographic Airborne Laser Scanner with Online Waveform Processing

The new RIEGL VQ-820-G is specifically designed to survey coastal strips, sea beds and grounds of

rivers and lakes integrated into a complete platform for airborne scanning, simply installed in anytype of aircraft plat-form, e.g. fixed wing or helicopter.

RIEGL LMS GmbH, Austria RIEGL USA Inc. RIEGL Japan Ltd.

www.riegl.com

excellently suited for combined land and hydrographic airborne survey of coastlines and shallow waters

visible green laser beamwater penetration 1 Secchi depthnet measurement rate up to 195 kHz, Laser Class 3Bscanning speed up to 200 lines/secwide field of view 42seamless integration with other RIEGL ALS Systems

and software packageslic industries, and researchers who came together to assess the data fromthis system.With the scanners forward looking 20deg tilt, the angle of incidence ofthe laser beam with respect to the water surface is nearly constant through-out the scan line whereas perpendicular angle of incidence is avoided atall. An added benet of this feature allowed for excellent data collectionof urban buildings and vegetation.An unprecedented density of ~9-11 pts/m was available at the pulse rep-etition rate of 138 kHz used throughout the tests. During the data reviewand analysis, attendees saw that the reectance capability of the scannerenhanced the viewing of features and objects were more discernable.Clear penetration of vegetation, especially in the mangrove swamps, wasdemonstrated. The system has the wonderful capability to discern betweenthe bottom of the swamp and where the mangroves begin. Exported LASles of the data acquired during the event were provided to the attendeesto assess in their own software.

Martin Pfennigbauer and Peter Rieger, RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH, Horn, Austria.

A r t i c l e

13Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com

The waterways of Fort Lauderdale, asseen from the NOAA Twin Otter during theRIEGL VQ-820-G bathymetric demonstra-tion, and the respective scan.

Point cloud of Sugarloaf Key near KeyWest. The brightness of the points cor-responds to the target reflectance. Thestructure of the seabed is shown excel-lently in this view.

July/August 2012


Delivering information on demand

Ordnance Survey Great Britain In response to changing market demands and an evolving economic environment, Ordnance Surveywanted to adopt a new way of operating; maintaining the national database and delivering bothnew and updated product lines. Throughout this programme of change, and going forward, the sys-tem needed to provide Ordnance Survey with continued confidence in their ability to maintain thequality of their data. This, in turn, means that their customers can continue to deliver dependable andinnovative solutions.

Great Britains National MappingAgency, Ordnance Survey, producesgeographic data products and papermaps for business, leisure, administrative andeducational use. Geographic data underpinsthe growth of national economies. In the UK,Ordnance Survey mapping is an essential ref-erence data set, considered so vital that anindependent report put its value at more than100 billion.

The organisation is relied upon by govern-ment, businesses and individuals to providegeographic data that is accurate and up-to-date. They maintain the most detailed nation-al database of its kind, containing over half abillion features. The availability of consistentand accurate detailed geographic informationis a key enabler for economic growth andenvironmental sustainability within the worldsleading economies. The recognition of thisstrategic importance drives the operationaland delivery improvement programmes atOrdnance Survey.

Like many other National Mapping Agencies,the Ordnance Survey has evolved dramatical-ly over the years and continues to do so in thelight of emerging technologies and changingmarket needs. Many of us associate

Ordnance Survey with the paper maps thatwe have on our shelves at home or in our cars.However, paper maps now represent less than8% of Ordnance Surveys annual revenuesand the demand for accurate, accessible, highquality digital geographic information is con-tinuing to increase. This huge emphasis ondigital mapping requires a powerful centraldatabase at an operational level allowingdata to be stored, managed and maintained.What makes the database so powerful is theintelligent data that it stores. By intelligentwe mean data that accurately reects the realworld in terms of real world features and theirinter-relationships rather than through layersof points, lines and polygons.

Maintenance of this database was at the coreof the Geospatial Data Management System(GDMS) Project, which was designed andimplemented by a consortium of providers.The overall solution is the result of close col-laboration between the design and test teamsof both the consortium and Ordnance Survey.It provides an integrated, enterprise-wide solu-tion for the management, planning, coordina-tion and control of Ordnance Surveys datacapture and production activities. State-of-the-art software technologies from the three part-ner companies were used.

1Spatial delivered the following components: Radius Studio crucial data quality

assurance capabilities provided throughenterprise rules

Central data model to capture andstore real world features

Workflow engine based on Oracletechnology to orchestrate the maintenanceand production process

Alongside the components and technologyprovided by 1Spatial, a number of other ele-ments were required. Intergraph delivered the job planning and

scheduling capabilities, using its highly-cus-tomisable GeoMedia product suite with inte-gration of third-party technologies from ven-dors such as Safe Software and PlexityHide

Snowake Software provided data extrac-tion and loading via its GO Loader/GOPublisher products

In addition to using Oracle technology for pro-cess orchestration, the system also uses it fordata storage.The project was delivered in phases, break-ing down the broad scope and complexity ofthe system according to risk. This enabledeffective management of the high risk areasof the system. All of the development teams

14July/August 2012

A r t i c l e

By Mark Plews

Hydrology data before and after rules-based model generalisation in RadiusStudio. In this particular process, adja-cent polygons have been merged,small holes have been removed andsome line simplification using the dou-glas-peuker algorithm has beenapplied. *Data courtesy of OrdnanceSurvey Crown Copyright.


adopted Agile best practices, which wereunpinned by a rigorous test procedure. Thismaintained an appropriate level of formalityduring the process. Regular, disciplined gov-ernance also ensured frequent customer inter-action and the effective management ofdependencies, resources and infrastructure.These are all vital in any lengthy and complexdevelopment programme.

Mapping the nowThe Ordnance Survey maintains the mostdetailed national database of its kind, con-taining over half a billion features. The organ-isation has a number of goals in terms of datacollection and ensuring that information with-in the database is accurate and up-to-date,which include government set KeyPerformance Indicators (KPIs). One KPI is

based on Ordnance Surveys continuous revi-sion programme, ensuring that all signicantchange is recorded within six months of com-pletion. Another internal programme, one ofcyclical revision, ensures that all otherchanges, such as minor road alterations, newparking schemes and agricultural barn devel-opments are captured via a combination ofremote sensing and ground survey techniques

A r t i c l e


is mapping the now


every ve years. The system has the capacityto handle up to 313,000 feature updates aday. Through the current maintenance pro-grammes, the actual number is in excess of30,000 features, equating to almost 21 realworld changes being updated every minute.Ultimately, each revision programme con-tributes to an overall corporate objective ofdelivering accurate, up-to-date geographicdata via existing product lines.

Quality assured data forcomplete confidenceWith an acknowledged world-wide rep-utation for the quality of their products,Ordnance Survey is committed to ensur-ing that the quality of their data is con-sistently maintained at a high level. Bydoing so, they can preserve that repu-tation and ensure continued customercondence. With such complex data holdings, theyrecognised that an automated ap -proach to data validation was the onlyway to ensure continuation of quality.Building this process into their produc-tion workow was highlighted as a pri-ority.1Spatial was able to provide a solutionto maintain those high quality expecta-tions. It employs a best of breed, inter-operable approach, leveraging theirexpertise in mainstream enterprise tech-nologies, such as Oracle and Java, andapplying it alongside their own RadiusStudio technology. Adopting such anapproach not only solved some ofOrdnance Surveys challenges but has helpedthem future proof the system. As a result,Ordnance Survey has a database that willhelp deliver a new business horizon. GDMSprovides a platform from which to efcientlydesign and launch new, derived products andservices, which can rely on high quality datato ensure they are successful.

Delivering information ondemand through theGeneralisation FrameworkAs part of their continuing evolution, NationalMapping and Charting Agencies around theworld are striving to redene their roles ascrowd sourced communities develop their ownt-for-purpose solutions. With emphasis on ex-ible and rapid deployment of highly accuratedata, Ordnance Survey and 1Spatial areworking together under the Multi-ResolutionData Programme (MRDP). This will drive thedevelopment of automated generalisation with-in an orchestrated enterprise production work-ow process. This will not only deliver newgeographic information data products, but also

help drive internal efciencies, achievedthrough more effective management of datacontent from which products can be created. The key to achieving effective, automated gen-eralisation processes begins with assemblingand maintaining high quality source data,conformance checked using business rules.This high quality source data is in place thanksto the groundwork done during the GDMSproject.

MRDP is focussing on delivering theGeneralisation Framework, involving modeland cartographic generalisation, text place-ment and product nishing processes. Modelgeneralisation seeks to reduce and simplifythe data to the required scale. The objectiveis akin to reducing the resolution of the data,often expressed as a reduction in the numberof features stored within the database, ratherthan improving legibility at smaller scales. Thisreduction in resolution is achieved throughselective removal and grouping of features.The resulting data is typically considered tobe geographically correct (undistorted), withaccuracy suitable for the target scale. It canbe used in its generalised form to deliverappropriately scaled digital data products, orbe presented for further cartographic general-isation for preparation of electronic and/orpaper maps. Ordnance Survey and 1Spatialhave adopted a rules-based environment forautomated model generalisation using theRadius Studio technology since it is very exi-ble and scalable and allows for domainexperts to author and tailor rules.

Artificial Intelligence techniquesCartographic generalisation seeks to createreadable presentation for the data and is nec-essary to ensure that the nal map is legibleand clearly displays the particular aspects ofthe data for which the map was intended. Asthe scale of the nal map decreases, theamount of legible data that can be presenteddecreases. The symbols for features, such asroads, occupy a greater fraction of the space

available giving rise to increasing spa-tial conict. These conicts are resolvedby further simplication, altering oremphasising various aspects of thedata.

Cartographic generalisation within the1Spatial Generalisation Frameworkuses technology based on work in theAutomated Generalisation, Next Gene -ration (AGENT) ESPRIT funded project.The methodology developed by thisproject allows generalisation to takeplace under agent control. A map feature, such as a building, aroad or a river network, becomes anagent at the beginning of the generali-sation process. The agent technologyintroduces articial intelligence tech-niques into the map production process,with an agent being a feature that con-trols itself in order to improve its carto-graphic appearance. It has a goal andis capable of acting autonomously toachieve it by selecting the most appro-priate algorithms and parameters. Thesealgorithms and parameters govern the

agents conformance to a set of rules and, con-sequently, its appearance.The text placement and product nishing pro-cesses occur post-generalisation and justbefore the data is turned into a cartographicend product. Text placement involves placinglabels on the map where the text must matchup with the location and geometry of the mapfeatures, such as rivers and roads. At the sametime, text must be placed in such a way itdoesnt itself cause conicts. The text place-ment activities are being executed usingMaplex. Product nishing includes tasks suchas any required manual edits, allocation ofidentiers and any required pre-press activi-ties. This process uses ArcMap, part of EsrisArcGIS product suite.

Mark Plews, General Manager, UK and European Sales.To find out more about the GDMS project, MRDP and

the Generalisation Framework, visit www.1spatial.com or contact us at [email protected].

16July/August 2012

A r t i c l e

1Spatials Generalisation Framework.


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Providing Information in an Integral Way

Rolta: Evolving and ExpandingIndian system-integrator Rolta has substantially expanded internationally over the years, and hastransformed itself into a global spatial-system integrator, providing information in an integral way.The company has many further plans for Europe and recently announced a partnership with GeoEye.

System integrator Rolta has been active in Europe for more than10 years and has had success in the Utility, Telecom andGovernment sector. Initially, Rolta focused on providing largescale engineering/data entry services, but during recent years thecompany has transformed into a global spatial-system integrator withimpressive projects in various regions of the world. In this interview,Ravi Pandey (President Europe at Rolta ) and Preetha Pulusani (Roltaschief strategy ofcer) discuss this transformation, the expectations ofthe Rolta management for the coming years, and a recent partner-ship with GeoEye.

TransformationTraditionally, Rolta were providers of software solutions within India,but outside of India they were primarily doing offshore data produc-tion services. But that has become a commodity, where people arebasically competing on price explained Ravi Pandey. He went onto comment on the new path Rolta is treading. So it was decidedthat we needed to build more intellectual property and add value tothe solutions that we provide globally.As a result of that, the company undertook several acquisitions, both

system integration companies internationally, and technology com-panies from US and Canada where the technology was repurposedinto higher value added solutions, such as Geospatial Fusion. Anexample of this is Orion GIS in Canada, whose technology is usedto provide higher value-added services and IP for asset manage-ment, complaints management, election and nancial planning togovernments around the world. Whereas a lot of the development of the software happens now inIndia, Rolta provides system integration services around the world,focusing on high-end Oracle services says Pandey. Today, data ser-vices is a small portion of the entire solution that Rolta provides toits customers: 80% is software system integration services and maybe20% are data services. Pandey: we not only build a database forour client, but in addition to that well understand what their busi-ness problem is. Well connect their assets geospatially and no mat-ter what GIS software they use, pull from whatever data we have.But at the end of the day we are providing for their operational ef-ciency and assets.Pandey notes that the combination of strong consulting skills in theUS and Canada and bringing down costs by using local workforce,

18July/August 2012

I n t e r v i e w

By Eric van Rees


enables Rolta to compete on costs: local companies with very strongconsulting skills struggle when it comes to the cost by providing asolution only around high-end consulting. And, if you look at theIndian system integrator which is the next competing force that isjust coming in, you see that their entire focus has been to take low-end value-added jobs and trying to do most of it in India to bringdown the cost base. Now Rolta has got the best of both, so the blend-ed cost comes down, and the ability to consult for business prob-lems goes up compared to Indian system integrators.

Rolta in EuropeRolta has lots of plans for their European market, says Pandey.Basically, it comes down to three verticals: utilities, oil/gas, andbanking/nancial services/insurances. Pandey: the rst thing wechose is utilities, which is water, electricity transmission, distributionand generation, gas distribution and telecom. Here we want to cre-ate some specialized Rolta solutions based around Geospatial Fusionand OneView. OneViews focus is on achieving operational intelli-gence using business intelligence, building on world class BI plat-forms such Oracle OBIEE or SAP Business Objects. The second vertical Rolta will pursue is oil and gas (the Shells andthe BPs), by means of the Oracle solution set. A few years ago,Rolta acquired a US-based company called TUSC to offer very high-end Oracle consulting services: we were very clear that we want-ed to sell solutions around the Oracle solu-tions set, so right from managed servicesand the database, to e-business suite,Enterprise Performance Management,Oracle spatial, and business intelligence. The third vertical is banking, nancial ser-vices and insurances, who are large ITspenders. Pandey explains the roadmap:were building enough credibility insideEurope to support our sales ambition, soits not just sales followed by delivery. Witheach sales person there is now an indus-trial vertical expert who can work on

industry-specic solutions and partnerships clear to creating the strat-egy for solving a business problem.

GeoEyeGeospatial is an area which has been a strong and deep founda-tion for Rolta and one that the company continues to focus on. Arecent partnership with GeoEye shows that Rolta sees the high valueof imagery for their customers. Preetha Pulusani explains why: oneof the legacies and assets that we have is our domain expertise ingeospatial. We just signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)with GeoEye where we are evaluating the use of their content andtechnology as part of comprehensive solutions that we can deliverto our customers. With our strong data services background, we canleverage that knowledge and resources to create value-added prod-ucts for our customers from GeoEyes satellite imagery. With the use of photogrammetry, imaging and other proprietarytools, Rolta can create many such value-added data products, suchas 3D city models, digital elevation models, surface models, hydrog-raphy, transportation networks and more. We are looking at offer-ing complete, turnkey solutions for many verticals where we havecustomized applications combined with databases so the users areproductive on day one. We can thus offer our customers the com-plete package. We will begin by identifying Rolta solutions that wecan deploy in developing and emerging markets, where we see an

intense need and demand for such com-prehensive solutions. In addition Rolta is also be evaluating vari-ous technology integration opportunitiesbetween Rolta and GeoEye products thatcan lead to innovative geospatial solutionsfor use by its global customers.

Internet: www.rolta.com


I n t e r v i e w

Rolta facilities

Rolta facilities


With Specific Reference to the Leica Geosystems HDS & ScanStation Product Ranges

Technology Developments in T The development of terrestrial laser scanner technology continues apace with ever-greater ranges (distances) being measured at ever-higher rates in all the different categories of these scanners. The article reviews these developments in the specific context of the HDS and ScanStation series ofinstruments from Leica Geosystems.

I - IntroductionLeica Geosystems is one of the major sup-pliers of terrestrial (or ground-based) laserscanners world-wide. Indeed there havebeen unofcial reports posted on the Internetthat assert that currently the company sup-plies between 50 to 60% of the terrestriallaser scanners that are sold on the worldmarket. At the same time, one observes that,over the last decade, there have been enor-mous developments and advances in thedesign, construction and performance of ter-restrial laser scanners that have led to theirwidespread introduction and application bythe surveying profession. So it appearsinstructive to review these advances in thetechnology of terrestrial laser scanners in thespecic context of the HDS and ScanStationproduct ranges that have been and arebeing offered by the Leica Geosystems com-pany. By doing so, one can get a feel forthe overall technical development that hasindeed taken place during this period.

I.1 Distance & AngularMeasurementsJust to set the scene and to dene both thesubject area that will be covered and theterms that will be used in this article, a ter-restrial laser scanner measures the topo-

graphic features that are visible in the areaaround the xed (static) position that hasbeen occupied by the instrument. Makinguse of its systematic scanning action, theinstrument achieves its coverage in a rapidand highly automated manner. It carries outthis task through the simultaneous measure-ment of (i) slant range and (ii) the asso-ciated horizontal and vertical anglesto each measured point. The slant range ismeasured by a laser rangefinder, whilethe angles are measured by angularencoders that are measuring in the hori-zontal and vertical planes that pass throughthe centre of the instrument [Fig. 1]. Theintensity of the returning signal that hasbeen reected from each point that has beenilluminated by the laser rangender will alsobe measured and recorded. If the positionand height of the scanner instrument arealready known, then the measured distanceand angular data allow the 3D coordi-nates of each measured point in the localor national reference system to be generat-ed by computation. Essentially a terrestriallaser scanner provides a systematic andhighly automated method of collectingdense 3D data of the terrain objects in thearea surrounding the instrument in the formof a point cloud containing millions ofvery accurately measured points, without theuse of reectors.

I.2 Classification(a) As is well known,terrestrial or ground-based laser scannersare differentiated pri-marily on the basis ofthe measuring prin-ciple that is employedin their laser rangend-ers between thoseinstruments that (i) uti-lize the pulse rang-ing or time-of-flight

(TOF) measuring principle; and (ii) thosethat employ the phase measuring tech-nique. The latter technique is used almostexclusively with short-range scanners;whereas the TOF technique is that appliedin medium- or long-range scanners. Bothtechniques are being used extensively, albeitin quite different models, within LeicaGeosystems terrestrial laser scanner pro ductrange.

(b) A secondary classication takes accountof both the scanning mechanism of thescanner and the coverage that this pro-duces over the ground. A commonly usedclassication differentiates between threetypes of static terrestrial or ground-basedlaser scanners (i) panoramic-typescanners; (iii) hybrid scanners; and(iii) camera-type scanners [Fig. 2]. Allthree types of coverage are employed,albeit in different models, within the overallLeica terrestrial laser scanner range.

(c) The third criterion that can be used toclassify terrestrial or ground-based laserscanners is the range or distance overwhich the static terrestrial laser scanners canmeasure. (i) The rst group that can be dis-tinguished comprises those laser scannersthat are limited to short ranges, typically

20July/August 2012

A r t i c l e

By the editors

Fig. 1 - The range (distance) and the horizontal and vertical angularrotations that are measured toward the surrounding objects in the ter-

rain using a terrestrial laser scanner. (Drawn by M. Shand.)

Fig. 2 Diagram illustrating the classification of terrestrial laser scanners based on their respective scanning mechanisms and coverages. (Drawn by M. Shand.)


up to 100 or 150 m maximum ambiguityinterval, and generally much shorter practi-cal ranges. They mostly comprise instru-ments that employ the phase measuring prin-ciple. Usually the limitations in range ofthese instruments are offset by the very highaccuracies that they achieve in distancemeasurement often to a few millimetres.(ii) A second group, based on pulse rang-ing using TOF measurements of distance,can measure over medium ranges withmaximum values from 150 to 450 m at aslightly reduced accuracy at these longerranges. (iii) While a third long-rangegroup can measure still longer distances up to 1 or 2 km again using the pulseranging (TOF) technique. However, the gainin range is normally accompanied by areduction in the accuracy of the measureddistances and in the pulse repetition rate though this is still quite appropriate to theapplications, such as open-cast mining, onwhich they are deployed and is very accept-able to the users of these instruments. Onceagain, the terrestrial scanner product rangefrom Leica Geosystems covers all three ofthese distance-based classes.

II - Short-Range ScannersAs already discussed above, those laser scan-ners that fall within this category utilize thephase-based measuring technique. In fact,the short-range terrestrial laser scanning sys-tems that have been marketed and sold byLeica Geosystems have all been manufacturedand supplied on an OEM basis by Zoller +Frhlich (Z+F). The Z+F manufacturing plantis located in the town of Wangen-im-Allgu insouth-west Germany, which is located just overthe border with Switzerland and not far fromthe Leica Geosystems headquarters inHeerbrugg. The manufactured instruments arerst calibrated by Z+F, after which, they arethen shipped from the Z+F factory toHeerbrugg for further check-out and verica-tion. After this operation has been completed,

the instruments are then sent out to the world-wide network of Leica Geosystems salesofces and agencies that sell them to their cus-tomers. There appears to be little competitionbetween the two companies who appear toaddress quite different markets, with each hav-ing a quite different customer base. Thus Z+Fmainly focuses on relatively nearby metrologyand dimensional control markets, while LeicaGeosystems mainly directs its global attentiontowards surveying, civil engineering, architec-tural, industrial plant, forensics, and culturalheritage users. Any required servicing orrepairs are in fact carried out by the Z+Fofces in those countries such as the U.K.,U.S.A. and Germany where bothcompanies are alreadywell established.

The initial scanner instru-ment that resulted fromthis cooperation betweenthe two companies wasthe Leica HDS4500[Fig. 3] which essential-ly was a re-badgedversion of the Z+FImager 5003 laser scanner thatrst appeared in 2002/3. Itsrangefinder employed a Class

3R continuous wave (CW) diode laser thatoperated in the near infrared (NIR) part of thespectrum at = 780 nm. The rangender wasavailable in two alternative versions givingambiguity ranges of 25.2 and 53.5 m respec-tively. The maximum measuring rate was500,000 points per second. With regard tothe instruments angular movements and mea-surements, the HDS4500 scanner utilized aservo motor and angular encoder to imple-ment the angular scan movement in the hori-zontal plane (in azimuth) around the instru-ments vertical axis through a rotation of theupper part of the instrument against its xedbase which is normally mounted on a tri-pod. The scanning movement in the verticaldirection was implemented using a fast-rotat-ing, lightweight mirror placed on the horizon-tal trunnion axis of the instrument which wassupported on two vertical standards or pillars.The horizontal rotation in azimuth covered thefull circle of 360, while the rotational move-ment of the mirror in these HDS4500 scan-ners allowed a scan angle of 310 within thevertical plane, placing it rmly in the group ofpanoramic scanners. The manufacturersclaimed accuracy in both horizontal and ver-tical angular measurement was 0.007 which is equivalent to 6 mm accuracy at themeasured points in both directions in the planethat is perpendicular to the laser direction at

50 m object distance.

In 2006, the HDS4500 scannerwas replaced by the HDS6000model [Fig. 4], which essential-ly was the Z+F Imager 5006instrument. While most of theoptical features and the overallmechanical construction werelittle changed from the previous

HDS4500 model, the ambi-guity range was increased

A r t i c l e

Latest News? Visit www.geoinformatics.com July/August 2012

Terrestrial Laser Scanners

Fig. 3 The Leica HDS4500 phase-based laser scanner. (Source: Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

Fig. 4 Leicas HDS6200 phase-based laser scanner.(Source: Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

21


considerably to 79 m. Moreover the electron-ics side and the scanners portability was con-siderably improved, the instrument featuringan integrated control panel, a powerful built-in PC, a hard disk and an internal battery.Further developments and improvementsresulted in the HDS6100 model (from 2008)and the HDS6200 model (from 2010), bywhich time, the maximum measuring rate ofthe instrument had doubled to over1,000,000 points per second. The HDS6200model is still listed as being available for saleon the Leica Geosystems Web site.

In this context, it is interesting to observe thatthese HDS4500 and HDS6000 phase-based scanners have also been used as theintegral ranging components in mobilemapping systems that are being used forthe kinematic surveying of road & railwaynetworks. The usual context is that the HDSscanners have been bought initially for stan-dard static terrestrial laser scanning opera-tions. After which, the instruments have thenbeen adapted for use in mobile mapping.For this type of operation, the instrumentsare mounted on a van or rail vehicle withtheir horizontal (azimuth) angular move-ments locked which effectively makes theminto 2D laser scanners. Examples of compa-nies that are carrying out such operationsinclude 3D Mapping Solutions GmbH inGermany and ABA Surveying based inWoking in the U.K. In the case of the ABAcompany, it began its mobile mapping oper-ations with two of its HDS6000 scanners,each mounted separately on a Leica GRPrail trolley, one on each rail track [Fig. 5(a)],with the position of each scanner beingdetermined continuously by Leica GPS1200receivers. Later three of the ABA Surveyingcompanys Leica HDS6000 scanners weremounted on a van, together with a RTK(Real-Time Kinematic) DGPS receiver fromAD Navigation and an LANDINS inertialnavigation system from IXSEA [Fig. 5(b)], tocarry out a variety of highway, civil engi-

neering and urban architectural applicationsusing this mobile platform and system.

The most recent development in the Leicashort-range HDS series is the HDS7000,scanner which was introduced to the mar-ket in March 2011. Again, it is based onthe latest Z+F Imager 5010 instrument [Fig.

6]. However this is a completely newpanoramic-type scanner that is very substan-tially different in its technology, constructionand overall performance to the previousHDS6000 series of instruments. In particu-lar, the laser rangender of the HDS7000scanner utilizes a Class 1 (eye-safe) erbium-based laser that emits its CW radiation at = 1550 nm in the short-wave infra-red(SWIR) part of the spectrum. Besides which,the ambiguity measuring distance has beenincreased greatly to 187.3 m. The verticalscan is carried out using a mirror equippedwith a special protective glass cover thatrotates at speeds up to 50 revs/ sec (i.e.3,000 rpm). This allows the maximum mea-

suring rate of the instrument to remain atover 1,000,000 points per second. At thesame time, the vertical scan angle coveragehas been extended a little to 320. TheHDS7000 also features a colour touchscreen display panel; two 32Mbyte ashdrives with integrated USB ports; and anEthernet/W-LAN (wireless) interface thatcan be used to control the scanner usingcommands from an external laptop comput-er.

In summary, the development of phase-based terrestrial laser scanners over the lastten years especially in terms of their vast-ly improved measuring rates and markedlyincreased distance performance, but also interms of their improved functionality, porta-bility, and ease-of-use is fully demonstrat-ed when one inspects and analyzes thedevelopment of this particular series of LeicaGeosystems HDS short-range scanners.

III - Medium-Range ScannersWithin this category, Leica Geosystems hasfollowed an entirely different strategy. Thevarious medium-range laser scanner instru-ments that it has produced and sold are allbased on pulse ranging and have allbeen manufactured in-house. LeicaGeosystems entered this eld in 2001through its purchase of the pioneering CyraTechnologies Inc. company based inCalifornia. The original Cyrax 2400 modelused a proprietary diode-pumped solid-statemicrochip laser operating at = 532 nm inthe visible (green) part of the spectrum. Thisallowed a maximum speed of measurementof 800 points per second with a maximumrange of 100 m. The Cyrax 2400 was acamera-type laser scanner that could scan a40 40 window using a twin mirror opti-cal scanning system and could achieve apositional accuracy of 6mm for scan data50m from the scanner. The main-body of theinstrument sat in a simple non-motorizedpan-and-tilt mount that allowed it to be point-

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22July/August 2012

Fig. 5 (a) Two HDS6000 laser scanners, each mounted on a Leica GRP trolley, being used by ABA Surveying to undertake the surveys of two parallel rail tracks for Irish Rail. (b) The van equipped with a mobile mapping system comprising three Leica HDS6000 phase-based laser scanners and a DGPS/IMU sub-system that is being used for road surveys by ABA Surveying.

(Source: ABA Surveying)

Fig. 6 The HDS7000 phase-based laser scanner. (Source: Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

[a] [b]


ed manually in steps over an angular rangeof 360 in azimuth and 195 in the verticalplane. It was followed by the improvedCyrax 2500 model [Fig. 7], which was laterre-named as the Leica HDS2500 scanner.

In 2004, the Cyrax models were replacedby the Leica HDS3000 scanner, whichhad a very different design and specica-tion. In particular, the camera-type layout ofthe previous Cyrax instruments was replacedby a dual-window design that, in total, gavea fully panoramic coverage of 360 inazimuth and 270 in the vertical plane [Fig.8(a)] The HDS3000 scanner [Fig. 8(b)] usedservo motors both to rotate the scan mirrorin the vertical plane and for the azimuthdrive, resulting in a much higher scan ratethan its Cyrax predecessors. The rangend-er used in the HDS3000 was based on aClass 3R microchip laser, again operatingin the green part of the spectrum (at = 532nm), providing a scan rate of up to 1,800points per second and a maximum speciedoperating range of 100 m.

In 2006, the HDS3000 instrument wassuperseded by the ScanStation [Fig. 9(a)].This retained the overall design and con-struction of the HDS3000 panoramic-typeinstrument. However it had a much greaterspecied maximum operational range of300 m and a maximum measuring rate of4,000 points per second. It also incorporat-ed a number of additional features such asa dual-axis compensator to allow conven-tional surveying operations such as resec-tion and traversing to be carried out usingthe instrument. It was the addition of this keysurveying instrument feature that contributedto the Leica ScanStation name, as a laserscanner that also had key total station fea-tures.

In July 2007, the next model in the series,called the ScanStation 2, [Fig. 9(b)] wasintroduced. Supercially this had the sameoverall design and appearance of theHDS3000 instrument and the originalScanStation. However the ScanStation 2instrument featured a completely new laserrangender utilizing a Class 3R passive Q-switched microchip laser, again operatingat = 532 nm in the green part of the spec-trum. However its pulse repetition frequency(PRF) was 50 kHz 12 times faster thanthe speed that could be achieved in the pre-vious ScanStation model. This was com-bined with more advanced timing electron-ics, comprising a new time-to-digitalconverter (TDC) and a high sensitivity receiv-er. All of which allowed the instrument tocarry out its range measurements at a verymuch higher speed with a maximum rateof 50,000 points per second while stillretaining the same high positional scan dataaccuracy and a maximum range of 300 mwith a reectivity of 90% that had beenachieved in the previous ScanStation model.With a ten fold improvement in its measur-ing rate, the ScanStation 2 really marked ahuge advance in performance as comparedwith its predecessors. The user interface and

instrument controller was a laptop or tabletPC. With the introduction of this instrument,the in-house production of Leica Geo -systems ScanStation instruments was movedfrom the factory in San Ramon, Californiato the main Leica Geosystems manufactur-ing plant in Heerbrugg in Switzerland [Fig.10].

In September 2009, Leica Geosystems intro-duced its ScanStation C10 laser scanner[Fig. 11(a)]. Although this retained theScanStation name, it had in fact undergonea very substantial re-design and upgrade ascompared with the ScanStation 2. In partic-ular, it featured a built-in touch screen colourgraphical display with an on-board comput-er/controller, an integrated 80 GByte datastorage and an internal battery, all of whicheliminated the need for a separate laptop

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24July/August 2012

Fig. 7 The Cyrax 2500 camera-type laser scanner sitting in itsmanually operated (non-motorized) pan-and-tilt mount.

(Source: Leica Geosystems)

Fig. 8 (a) The dual-window design of the Leica HDS3000 laser scan-ner gave a fully panoramic coverage of 360 in azimuth and 270in the vertical plane. The two windows were not in use simultaneous-ly; thus two separate horizontal scans were needed for the complete

coverage. Or they could be used separately as required. (b) The actual HDS 3000 instrument.

(Source: Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

Fig. 9 (a) The Leica ScanStation; and (b) the ScanStation 2 medium-range panoramic-type laser scanners. (Source: Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

Fig. 10 A view of the calibration floor for terrestrial laser scanners,which is located in the Leica Geosystems test facility in Widnau, ashort distance from the main factory in Heerbrugg, Switzerland. Themain scanner calibration chambers are in the background. In the fore-ground is the camera calibration stand. Two sets of targets are placedin front of the scanner and are both imaged and scanned. (Source:

Leica Geosystems AG, Switzerland)

Fig. 11 (a) The ScanStation C10 laser scanner, showing its major components.

(b) The panoramic cover-age of the ScanStation

C10 laser scanner. (Source:Leica Geosystems)

[a]

[b]

[a] [b]

[a] [b]


PC to act as the instruments control device.Data transfer to an external computer canbe carried out using built-in USB andEthernet WLAN (wireless) ports. The laserrangender is, once again, based on aClass 3R microchip laser emitting its pulsesat = 532 nm. The dual-window design ofthe prior scanners in this class was replacedby a spinning mirror capability which nolonger required two scans to capture a full-dome eld-of-view. The ScanStation C10instrument can be operated to scan in fullpanoramic mode [Fig. 11(b)] with its spin-ning mirror or in a restricted camera modeusing an oscillating scan motion over a spec-ied eld-of-view with selectable angularcoverage. The instrument is also tted witha video camera that has a zoom capabilityand implements real-time video streaming ofscanned targets. This same video cameraalso serves as an internal small-format (4Megapixel) digital frame camera that canacquire high-quality colour images of theobjects that are being scanned and precise-ly align the captured images to the scanpoints.

Since the Leica ScanStation C10s introduc-tion, advances have also been made to itsonboard rmware (its onboard panel inter-face can also be displayed on an iPAD forremote handheld control). A key area ofrmware advancement has been enablingsurveyors to more fully and easily utilize sur-vey workows, such as traverse, with a laserscanner. In addition to site logistical advan-tages that survey workows like traverse pro-vide, this can also eliminate ofce registra-tion of scans, as scans can instead beautomatically registered to each other andgeo-referenced on-the-y as eld scanningprogresses.

Finally, within the medium-range Scan Sta -tion series, in June 2011, Leica Geosystemsintroduced its new ScanStation C5 instru-ment. This is a substantially lower-cost instru-ment with a correspondingly lower per -formance. Compared with its C10big-brother, it still retains the same basicconstruction, measuring principle and scanmovements, together with the integrated on-board controller, colour display, storage andbattery. However the C5 model has a morerestricted measuring range (distance) of 35m (v. 300 m for the C10) and maximummeasurement rate of 25,000 pts/sec (v.50,000 pts/sec for the C10). It also lacksthe dual-axis level compensator and thehigh-resolution digital frame camera of theC10 model. However all of these restrictionsand missing features are available as

optional extras and can be added later tothe basic C5 instrument to bring it up to theC10 standard.

Once again, this account of the develop-ment of the Leica ScanStation series showsthat they are fully representative of the enor-mous advances in performance, especiallyin the speed of measurement from less than1,000 pts/sec to 50,000 pts/sec thathave been made within the category ofmedium-range terrestrial laser scanners overthe last decade.

IV - Long-Range ScannersIn 2006, I conducted and published an inter-view with Ken Mooyman, who is now thePresident of Leica Geosystems Inc. coveringNorth America [ see the issue of Geo -Informatics for April/May 2006]. At thattime, he was the head of Leica Geosystemsterrestrial laser scanner business and, as hemade plain in the published interview, he wasnot enthusiastic about the company movinginto the market for long-range scanners.However he did say that Open pit mining isone market where the very long range sys-tems have a good t, as accuracy require-ments are low, line-of-sight may not be a prob-lem, and, if you are scanning vertical wallsin an open pit, you dont have an angle-of-incidence problem. However, it was not untilFebruary 2009 that Leica Geosystems didnally move into this eld, when it introducedits HDS4400 laser scanner. In this case, itsourced the instrument on an OEM basis fromthe Australian manufacturer, Maptek, basedin Adelaide, South Australia, which hadalready introduced the same instrument ontothe market in 2004 as its I-Site 4400 scan-ner.

The HDS4400 [Fig.12(a)] is a hybrid-typelaser scanner employing the pulse-basedrange measurement technique and having amotorized rotation of 360 in azimuth and80 angular coverage in the vertical plane.The stated angular accuracy is 0.04. Theinstruments rangender is based on a Class3R semi-conductor diode laser which emits itspulses at = 905 nm in the near infra-red(NIR) part of the spectrum with a power of10 mW. The HDS4400 instrument measuresits ranges at a maximum rate of 4,400 pointsper second. The maximum range with highlyreective surfaces is 700 m. Furthermore, theI-Site 4400 (and the Leica HDS4400) instru-ment also incorporates a digital panoramicline scanner equipped with a Nikon f = 20mm lens that produces a 37 Megapixel lines-can image that is acquired concurrently dur-ing the laser scanning/ranging operation.

The measured data is transferred via anEthernet interface to be recorded on an exter-nal PC tablet computer.

In 2010, Maptek introduced its then new I-Site 8800 scanner and Leica followed withits HDS8800 version of the instrument [Fig.12(b)]. This follows much the same basicdesign layout and construction as the previ-ous HDS4400 instrument. However its per-formance has been very substantiallyupgraded using a rangender employing anClass 1 (eye-safe) erbium laser that emits itspulses at = 1545 nm in the short-waveinfra-red (SWIR) part of the spectrum. In par-ticular, the maximum range of the HDS8800has been extended to 2,000 m with highlyreective surfaces, while, at the same time,its maximum scan rate has been doubled to8,800 points per second. Furthermore theformat size of the built-in panoramic linescanner has also been doubled to producea 70 Megapixel image. As was the casewith the previous HDS4400 scanner, theHDS8800 instrument is controlled via anexternal ruggedized PC.

In March 2012, Leica Geosystems intro-duced a lower-cost version of the HDS8800

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Fig. 12 The Leica Geosystems long-range terrestrial laser scanners showing (a) the HDS 4400 scanner; and (b) the HDS 8800

scanner. Both are hybrid-type scanners in terms of their ground cover-age, which is optimized for surveys of open-cast pits or mines.

(Source: Leica Geosystems)

[a]

[b]


instrument called the HDS8400 scanner [Fig.13(a)] with a reduced performance mostnotably, the omission of the digital panoram-ic line scanner and a reduction in the maxi-mum range to 700 m with highly reectingobjects. However the HDS8400 instrumentstill retains the maximum measuring rate of8,800 pts/sec of the HDS8800 model. Theinstrument can also be mounted on a vehicleto implement the stop-and-go 3D laserscanning technique using a speciallydesigned rack mount in combination with aGPS/GNSS receiver to provide the appro-priate positioning information [Fig. 13(b)].

When one starts to measure over distancesof 1 or 2 km with a terrestrial laser scanner,then one begins to encounter some of theproblems that arise with airborne laser scan-ners that operate over similar distances (y-ing heights). In particular, after the laserrangender has red a pulse, then, depend-ing on the range, a certain time period hasto elapse before the reected pulse returnsand the next pulse can be red towards theground. With airborne laser scanners, thisproblem has been solved through the adop-tion of the multiple pulse technique asused for example in the Leica ALS50, ALS60

and ALS70 airborne topographic laser scan-ners. In fact, another manufacturer has justadopted this technique for its long-range ter-restrial laser scanner, allowing it to extendboth its range (to a maximum distance of 4km) and its maximum measuring rate (toover 200,000 points per second). One pre-sumes that a similar development will beseen with the Maptek and Leica Geosystemslong-range laser scanner instruments in duecourse.

V - SummaryThe account presented above shows clearlythe enormous progress that has been madein developing the technology of terrestriallaser scanners over the last decade in theparticular context of Leica Geosystems HDSand ScanStation product range. This devel-opment has seen measuring rates improveby over 50 times in some cases, while themaximum distances that can be measuredhave increased greatly in all three rangeclasses. The instruments have also been t-ted with advanced electronics, considerablecomputing power and rmware that maketheir operational use much easier, yet muchmore sophisticated than before.

It will also be seen that, on the one hand,Leica Geosystems has developed its medi-um-range ScanStation series in-house; while,on the other hand, it has sourced its HDSshort-range and long-range laser scannerproducts from much smaller OEM suppliers.The latter cannot match Leica Geosystemsworld-wide commercial network and cover-age, but they do gain a lot from thisarrangement by which the company sellstheir laser scanner products in many mar-kets that they might not otherwise reach. Atthe same time, Leica Geosystems has beensaved the time, cost and effort of develop-ing instruments to complete its comprehen-sive coverage of the terrestrial laser scannermarket.Fig. 13 (a) The recently introduced Leica Geosystems HDS8400 long-range laser scanner designed for mining applications.

(b) An HDS8400 scanner mounted on a survey vehicle for stop-and-go scanning operations. (Source: Leica Geosystems)

[a]

[b]

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26July/August 2012


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geoinformatics 2012 vol05