MULTIPLATFORM APPROACH TO MOBILE LASER SCANNING

Abstract. Mobile laser scanning is an emerging technology for capturing three-dimensional information from the surrounding objects. With state of the art sensors the achieved point cloud could capture fine details of the surroundings with good accuracy and effectiveness. Many of the applications deal with the civil engineering purposes in urban areas for traffic and city planning and modelling. In this article we present multiplatform mobile laser scanning solutions for mapping applications that require mobility in various terrains and river environments but yet produce high density point clouds with good reliability and accuracy. The ROAMER mobile laser scanning system was deployed in multitude of tasks from urban areas to climate research. The paper also introduces a completely new backpack Akhka platform for mobile lidar mapping of areas where wheeled vehicles cannot operate. The sensor set is the same in all of the approaches, but the carrying vessel was selected according to the application. This was possible thanks to a relatively light and compact yet simple design of the system. ROAMER system is one of the few high-end MLS systems that are easily adaptable to various platforms. In addition to technical description of the system we discuss the practical performance of the solutions through various applications in the fields of urban mapping, fluvial geomorphology, snow cover characterization and climate change monitoring.