Leica Geosystems Inc. is pleased to announce that Tridex Solutions Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah, has purchased the Leica ALS70-CM Airborne Laser Scanner. Tridex has integrated the ALS70 with a Leica RCD105 Digital Frame Camera for initial deployment to Africa where the spatial imaging firm has experienced a 30 percent reduction in acquisition time for its 3D mapping and GIS projects.
“The Leica ALS70 offers the speed, pulse rate and power that are exactly what we need for our 3D spatial imaging solutions,” said Robert Vashisth, Founder and CEO of Tridex Solutions.
With offices in four countries, Tridex specializes in acquiring high-resolution elevation data with airborne and terrestrial laser scanners to generate ‘real-life 3D’ mapping and visualization solutions. The firm’s 3D products are used in applications ranging from high-accuracy city mapping for engineering purposes to volumetric vegetation mapping for biomass calculations. In the African nation of Gabon, for example, Tridex is flying the Leica ALS70-CM LiDAR and Leica RCD105 camera to generate 3D models of both urban and jungle regions.
“The Leica ALS70 has the power and pulse rate to penetrate the dense foliage and capture the point density sufficient for our accuracy specifications without huge overlap in flight lines,” said Vashisth. “We’re getting the job done faster – acquisition projects that once took 30 days now take only 20.”
Tridex has also been able to increase the air speed of its twin-engine Cessna 337 from 120 to 145 knots without sacrificing data quality from either the laser scanner or digital camera. The firm typically flies at altitudes of 500 to 700 meters above ground level to obtain the high-density elevation point cloud required for its product line. Even at that altitude and speed, the Leica RCD105 camera operated by Tridex has the shutter speed to capture crisp color imagery for LiDAR processing and orthorectification.
The Leica ALS70 is an affordable airborne laser scanner with a 500 kHz pulse rate capability from a single laser scanner, which is designed specifically for high-density point collection in diverse environments. The Leica ALS70-CM version was developed specifically for city and corridor mapping at lower altitudes.
“The Leica ALS70-CM and companion Leica ALS70-HP model scanners offers the revolutionary Point Density Multiplier technology that allows a quantum increase in measurement and pulse rate, making the Leica Geosystems LiDAR product line the most productive airborne scanners available,” said Jean Gardiner, General Manager of the Leica Geospatial Solutions Division.
Designed for seamless plug-and-play integration with the Leica ALS70 scanner line, the Leica RCD105 imaging system is a digital medium-format camera that captures extremely sharp RGB color. The Leica RCD105 was built with the high-speed imaging capabilities needed to keep pace with laser scanners and to acquire smear-free images in a variety of ground target environments regardless of flight altitude. The digital camera also offers the flexibility of changing lenses to meet the demands of specific projects. Leica Geosystems also offers the RCD30 medium format camera which can capture four bands (R,G,B,NIR) from a single camera head.
Both the Leica ALS70 laser scanner and the Leica RCD105 digital camera are delivered with peripheral products and software needed to create a seamless production workflow on the ground from mission planning through to data set processing for the generation of deliverable products. For more information about these products please visit: http://www.leica-geosystems.us/en/Airborne-LIDAR_86814.htm
Tridex is pleased with its selection of the laser scanner and camera. Vashisth concluded, “In addition to the productivity offered by the Leica ALS70, we found the level of pre- and post-sale support offered by Leica Geosystems instrumental in getting the system in the air on an extremely tight schedule in which hardware, aircraft, and personnel had to all arrive from different locations and hit the ground running in a remote location.” The Leica ALS70 is an affordable airborne laser scanner with a 500 kHz pulse rate capability from a single laser scanner, which is designed specifically for high-density point collection in diverse environments.
Tridex Solutions Inc.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in the UK, India, West Africa and Australia, Tridex Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of very high-resolution airborne and fixed 3D scanning, thermal imaging and multispectral imaging. From economic initiatives in developing nations to green retrofitting a grade school in a major metropolitan area, Tridex hardware and software technologies enable engineers, architects and urban planners as well as global natural resource companies, municipalities and central governments to make the most informed development, construction and strategic planning decisions possible. For more information please go to http://www.tridexsolutions.com/
About Leica Geosystems’ Airborne Solutions
With over 80 years of experience, Leica Geosystems is a global leader in the design, delivery and support of airborne digital and LiDAR sensors for the geospatial marketplace. Along with the well-known Leica RC30, Leica Geosystems’ airborne sensor portfolio today includes a wide range of innovative technologies and products such as the Leica RCD30 series of medium format digital frame cameras, the Leica ADS pushbroom sensors, the Leica ALS LiDAR series, and the Leica IPAS GNSS/IMU solutions.
Following the acquisition of Intergraph by Hexagon in 2010, Hexagon Geosystems’ newly formed Geospatial Solutions Division has brought together Leica Geosystems Airborne Sensors and Z/I Imaging. Committed to continued innovation on all major product lines, the combined airborne sensor portfolio includes the widest range of medium and large format imaging as well as LiDAR technologies and offers a choice of sensor for every application. A full suite of software from flight planning to post-processing provides end-to-end workflow for high accuracy orthophoto generation, feature extraction and map production. In addition, Hexagon Geosystems operates a global network of customer service and support centers to ensure highest productivity around the clock.
