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LiDAR Remote Sensing

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Handbook of Satellite Applications

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Abstract

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR), also known as laser detection and ranging (LaDAR) or optical radar, is an active remote sensing technique which uses electromagnetic energy in the optical range to detect an object (target), determine the distance between the target and the instrument (range), and deduce physical properties of the object based on the interaction of the radiation with the target through phenomena such as scattering, absorption, reflection, and fluorescence. LiDAR has many applications in the scientific, engineering, and military fields. LiDAR sensors have been deployed at fixed terrestrial stations, in mobile surface and subsurface vehicles, lighter-than-air crafts, fixed and rotary wing aircraft, satellites, interplanetary probes, and planetary landers and rovers. This chapter provides a high-level overview of the principles of operation of LiDAR technology and its main applications performed from space-based platforms such as satellite altimetry, atmospheric profiling, and on-orbit imaging and ranging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSF National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM)/Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz, William E. Carter, Ramesh L. Shrestha & Craig L. Glennie

  2. University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz

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  1. Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz
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  2. William E. Carter
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  3. Ramesh L. Shrestha
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  4. Craig L. Glennie
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Correspondence to Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Executive Board,International Assoc. for the,Advancement of Space Safety, George Washington University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Joseph N. Pelton

  2. Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Scott Madry

  3. CRECTEA/INAOE, Santa Maria Tomantzintla, Mexico

    Sergio Camacho-Lara

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Fernandez Diaz, J.C., Carter, W.E., Shrestha, R.L., Glennie, C.L. (2020). LiDAR Remote Sensing. In: Pelton, J., Madry, S., Camacho-Lara, S. (eds) Handbook of Satellite Applications. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6423-5_44-4

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  1. Latest

    LiDAR Remote Sensing
    Published:
    30 June 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6423-5_44-4

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    LiDAR Remote Sensing
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    08 June 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6423-5_44-3

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