Notes

Embracing Mobile 3D Laser Scanning
"Technology is advancing so quickly that it is slowly replacing the surveyor." These concerns have been voiced over and over as LiDAR scanning becomes more accessible. The most recent advance in scanning is terrestrial mobile LiDAR scanning (TMLS). This technology collects survey-grade data at highway speeds and at traditional survey costs, and in the transportation discipline it is a safer means of data collection while reducing risk for the whole project. But it has surveyors questioning the longevity of their profession. What is regarded as click here to efficiency should be embraced to ensure that surveying to survive. Land surveyors are increasingly passing up on surveying work because they are not advancing in current measurement technologies. Understanding and appropriately responding to non-traditional ways will significantly contribute to the success of the surveying profession also to the clients you serve.

Changing a Mindset
Historically, improvements in the surveying profession are the usage of real-time kinematics (RTK) and global positioning systems (GPS) replacing field crew members. The robotic total station was another scientific invention to assist survey professionals that resulted in shedding pounds crews. So did the calculator for field trig values and computers for CAD drawings, but eventually they too were accepted and so are widely used today. The profession adjusted.

Now mobile 3D laser scanning is creating a new apprehension from an over-restricted view of the profession, although TMLS doesn't have to be looked at as another replacement. The continuing future of the surveying profession continues to be viable if the technology is used as "another tool in the toolbox." Hans Hess, former CEO of Leica Geosystems, one of the major producers and suppliers of both survey field equipment and static laser scanners, says that he encounters this attitude. "Sometimes I hear our customers say, 'Well, the surveying profession is dying and there is no future for all of us.' The necessity for geo-information is tremendous, and growing; geo-information has to be more up-to-date, more 3D, more accessible over the internet, and so on. There are not many industries offering so many exciting prospects."

Understanding the Technology
Technology is continually changing, and so must the surveyor's tools. The finish product is only as effective as the original field data gathered. TMLS systems measure hundreds of thousands of points a second whilst travelling at highway speeds. The data gathered are complete 3D images of the area being measured. What used to take months now takes only a few hours in the field. The surveyor or CAD technician can extract the needed top features of this data in the office at the desktop. Because the surveyor is trained in spatial recognition, virtually walking the website becomes a benefit to the info extraction process. This system allows the surveyor to extract data in more areas than he'd have performing traditional shots every 25 feet.

Accompanying video documentation and digital images allows for an improved QA/QC process by way of a recorded visual reference. This enables the surveyor to come back to the website at the desktop rather than revisiting the field to make additional observations. Combined, this creates a collection of better original survey data for surveyors with added benefits.

Great things about TMLS Surveyors must approach this proven technology in an effort to solve problems in the field. Many organizations have developed key standards for safety, efficiency, and accuracy, and mobile 3D laser scanning addresses those standards in the following ways.

Safety: Survey-grade road surface documentation at highway speeds improves safety and efficiency for both the traveling public and the surveyor in the following ways. It:
? eliminates road/lane closures,
? reduces traffic disruption,
? finishes the project more quickly than traditional methods,
? is a safer approach to data collection, and
? keeps the surveyor out of the red zone.

Efficiency: Because in-house surveyors supply control and check shots through traditional methods, efficiency is increased,and those benefits could be passed through to your client through:
? acceleration of the look project schedule through faster field data collection,
? deliverables created through in-house technicians,
? data designed for extraction, when needed, how needed, where needed, and
? control of the data remaining in-house.

Accuracy: TMLS is really a proven technology. Evaluations performed at a Caltrans test area specifically designed to evaluate mobile laser scanning systems resulted in an RMS error of 0.022'. The route chosen was to allow companies advanced in mobile laser scanning technology an independent evaluation against CalTrans total station collected points.

Implementing TMLS
Many surveyors have mastered only one way of performing surveying operations, and they have to expand their horizons by learning multiple software programs for field-to-finish and office computations. There are a number of new services a traditional surveyor can add to the profession to expand business through TMLS. Surveyors who acquired scanners originally to complete traditional surveys and inspections are carving their own niche in the market through accident reconstruction surveys. Companies which have been doing forensic work for years have found that laser scanning enables them to perform investigations faster and much more thoroughly, and mere usage of scanner data is keeping them ahead of the competition when bidding for new jobs.

In past times, the airborne industry has documented nearly all overhead line surveys. With mobile 3D laser scanning, wires right down to 3mm in diameter could be accurately located and their heights measured. Check out this site allows for calculations of sway and sag of overhead power lines. The cost to your client between airborne and mobile surveying is really a drastic reduction. What the "fly-by" replaced in speed from traditional methods, the "drive-by" benefits in cost. TMLS technology, like the StreetMapper system out of the United Kingdom, can easily be adapted within significantly less than one hour to vessels providing high-resolution coastal land surveys of upland features, including dunes, beach cusps, scarps, and vegetation. The 3D laser scanning resolution far exceeds whatever can be obtained through traditional surveying methods. This enables for surveys of unprecedented detail.

Rapid data acquisition through TMLS enables the generation of 3D city models to be utilized for homeland security issues and evacuation planning. Colorization of models are benefits to planning boards and marketing city attractions and expansion. City modeling is rapidly becoming a significant catalyst for data acquisition through technologies such as Google Earth and MapQuest.

Rail construction tasks require reliable survey data. Because of highly increasing traffic load, combined with age structure of the rail network, responsible administrations are forced to put the primary emphasis of maintenance activities into projects to ensure quality, safety, and sufficient traffic capacity. The negative influences of maintenance tasks have to be kept no more than possible. This is even more important for the necessary substantial engineering/survey work that's needed in advance to fully capture basic data for construction planning and preparation. TMLS installed on a hyrailer minimizes the survey effort to fully capture the mandatory data along existing railways.

Just a comparatively short driving time is needed for data collection, as the traffic flow is not significantly affected. This process reduces both costs and safety risks.Three-dimensional airport surveys captured by TMLS empower engineers and land surveying crews with scan data of runway surfaces, building footprints, measure distance, sign identification, and locations as well as survey terminals, taxiways,and aprons, all without disruption to air traffic.

Automated permitting for truck routing for bridge heights and clearances by traditional survey methods is costly, frustrating, and presents difficult in managing the changing data due to continued highway construction resurfacing projects. Obtaining survey-grade accuracy for bridge heights and clearances at traffic speeds may be the most efficient way to measure various structures and roadway features. Accuracies of better than 1/2" have already been obtained for vertical clearances of roadway structures. It really is critically important in oversize route planning. Horizontal clearance measurements must be maintained. Collecting this data in a traditional manner can be dangerous or can cause congestion with work crews subject to serious traffic hazards. Work should be performed during available traffic breaks, that may introduce errors. From the system-wide perspective, clearance information oftentimes is incomplete, inaccurate, and difficult to maintain and to access.

Highway surveys with mobile 3D laser scanning are used for maintenance and asset management of road surface and street configurations by identifying concrete spalling and pitting. Construction monitoring can even be obtained for forensic identification of rebar placement before a pour. This data allows for complete surface contour capabilities of road crowning and rutting measurements.


Mark Coon, LS, a geospatial manager at Erdman Anthony, says, "We currently use Terrestrial LiDAR on highway and bridge surveys for the NYSDOT, and it's really obvious that mobile lidar will be the technology of choice ultimately."

These are just some of the ways the surveying profession can boost their services using TMLS as another tool in their toolbox. Surveyors who understand and accurately position themselves to react to these technology advancements will remain prior to the concerns of an otherwise seemingly dying breed.

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