Scanning the earth with a laser, a company wants to create a global 3D map
CTOnews.com, May 7 (Xinhua)-- A Florida company plans to launch a series of satellites to make three-dimensional maps of the earth's surface using lidar technology.
The company, NUVIEW, announced its plans for the lidar satellite constellation at the Geospatial World Forum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from May 2 to 5. "our lidar satellite constellation will provide information on an unprecedented scale to promote innovation and progress in many industries," Clint Grauman, the company's chief executive and co-founder, said in an emailed statement. revolutionize our understanding and interaction of the planet. "
Lidar is a technology that uses pulsed laser to measure distance, which uses pulsed laser to measure the distance by detecting the time it takes for reflected light to return to the receiver. This technique can map the earth's terrain in great detail by sending a steady stream of laser pulses downward through trees and other types of vegetation. At present, most attempts to draw the earth's surface using lidar use drones or aircraft. ICESat-2, launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2018, is one of the few satellites to use lidar in orbit, whose main task is to measure the height of the Arctic ice sheet. According to NUVIEW, only about 5% of the earth's land has been mapped by lidar.
However, thanks to recent technological innovations, NUVIEW has designed a constellation of 20 lidar satellites, and modern satellites are better able to handle the high power needs of lidar sensors. NUVIEW claims that its lidar constellation "will collect data more than 100 times faster than current commercial aviation solutions". The company predicts that its data will be in great demand and can be used by farmers to optimize crop yields and water use, as well as by urban planners to create a more efficient and sustainable environment for cities.
NUVIEW did not say when it planned to launch its lidar constellation, but the company said it had signed contracts worth $1.2 billion (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 8.292 billion yuan) with potential customers.
