Litemapper-5600 – a Waveform-digitizing Lidar Terrain and Vegetation Mapping System

LiteMapper-5600 is a new high-accuracy airborne LIDAR system for corridor and wide-area mapping of terrain and vegetation with a unique feature: it digitizes the echo waveform of each measurement. This paper outlines the system and its components, presents first samples of data that were collected recently with a prototype in flight tests, and analyzes system performance. It highlights applications that take advantage of the waveform registration capabilities of LiteMapper-5600 with a special emphasis on forestry applications. Being based on the new RIEGL LMS-Q560 laser scanner the LiteMapper-5600 system is one of the first commercial airborne LIDAR terrain mapping systems to use waveform digitization, thereby providing access to the full surface information content available from LIDAR measurements. Return waveforms can give detailled insights into the vertical structure of surface objects, surface slope, roughness, and reflectivity. By enabling the user to determine the target detection characteristics in post-processing, a more robust and accurate ground detection for example in areas with low vegetation becomes possible. For forestry applications, the vertical structure of the canopy and understory is revealed, facilitating the determination of species, vegetation health, as well as forest structure and biomass more accurately. * Corresponding author.