High Density Survey (HDS) Research
A technique related to LiDAR (often called terrestrial laser scanning, terrestrial LIDAR, or high density survey) involves the use of a similar device but, commonly, on a fixed tripod. High density survey (HDS) is often used to characterize buildings and, when using very high resolution instruments, small objects. A major area of research at CAST is in the application of HDS. The Center has five such instruments an Optech ILRIS long-range terrestrial scanner, a Leica C10 mid-long range system, a Z+F 5006i mid range and two short range systems - a Breuckmann smartSCAN HE and a Konica-Minolta VIVID 9i scanner. Information on HDS techniques is provided here. Research problems under study involve improvement in methods for HDS, use of HDS in visualization and analysis, and techniques for storage and distribution of HDS data.
A major area of effort involves development of strategies for the measurement and characterization of urban and community infrastructure and of the application of HDS to archaeological and heritage resources. See also the Internet Virtual Metrology Lab (InVirMet) where visitors have access to a number of laser scanning data sets collected by CAST, and a freely distributable viewer for viewing and measuring large point clouds.