Bathymetric LiDAR for

Hydrographic Charting

Gerard Costello
Canadian Hydrographic Service, Atl

ACZISC Meeting #64; 6 Oct 2011 Halifax

Overview
1. What is LIDAR
2. Topo vs Bathymetric LiDAR
3. Advantages and disadvantages
4. CHS applications
5. 2011 Project discussion

What is LIDAR
LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is an optical
remote sensing technology that can measure the
distance to, or other properties of a target by
illuminating the target with light, often using
pulses from a laser. LIDAR technology has
application in many geographic sciences as well
as in airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), laser
altimetry and LIDAR Contour Mapping.
en.wikipedia.org [2011]

Bathymetric LiDAR

Source:http://www.pelydryn.co.uk/index.php/surveys

Bathymetric LIDAR systems

Optech: SHOALS 1000T, 3000T, AQUARIUS
Pelydryn: Hawkeye ll
Fugro: LADS, SHOALS 1000T
USACE/NAVO/NOAA: SHOALS, CZMIL

Topo vs Bathy LiDAR

Main differences

Bathymetric

Topographic

Laser Beams

Wavelength

Red (infrared)
Blue-Green

Infrared

Frequency/Density

3 KHz/2-5m

~100 kHz/10cm

Disparate Energy

Larger payload;
requires more power;
larger aircraft

Depth

0 - 50m

Cost

~$1700/ sq. km

Smaller/compact;
small aircraft or
helicopters
NA
~$200/ sq. km?

Lidar vs Acoustic/Multibeam

Source: www.fugro.com

CHS-Optech SHOALS demo 2009;

Lake Ontario
2 day multibeam survey
3.5 hours of LiDAR

CHS/DFO applications
Coastal & Shallow water charting
Remote areas, especially Arctic
Repetitive surveys----coastal erosion, sea
level rise
UNCLOS Baselines
Shoal/Wreck detection---route surveys
Habitat mapping---ReflectanceSeabed
classification

Bathymetric LiDAR is useful for charting

the Littoral zoneto provide seamless
data in the shallow water coastal areas

Low water
line

High water line

Littoral zone
Topographic
data--above
high water
line

ACZISC Meeting #64; 6 Oct 2011 Halifax

Arctic Charting- Victoria Strait Pilot Project 2011

AUV 3 (~100 km2)

Bathy-Side Scan

Tide Gauge Station 1

GPS Reference Station

+ Sat Com Station 4

eSPACE
RadarSat 4 +
Videography 5

Launches 1, 2 (~200 km2)

Multibeam + Side Scan Sonar

Lidar 6 (~380 km2)

1 CHS-DFO
2 Parks Canada- UAS
3 U of Victoria-OTL
4 CDN Space Agency
5 Environment Can.

Project
Partners

ACZISC Meeting #64; 6 Oct 2011 Halifax

6 National Defence

Issues during operation of ALB system

Operations subject to weather constraints

Low cloud, fog and rain effect LiDAR
performance.
High winds create flight safety and
coverage issues.
Ice coverage.
Turbidity of the sea water.

Coastal Navigation charting; Eastern Shore NS 2011

CCGS MATTHEW

Hydrographic Vessel -165 feet length and 14 feet draft

MBES EM710
Data collected and logged with SIS (Kongsberg)
All instruments & sensors on the pole
Positioning: Applanix Dual Freq Pos/MV w/hard drives

Beechcraft King Air A90, tail number N89N

Fugro-Pelagos SHOALS-1000T System

Shoreline to ~25m water depth
1 kHz laser
5m x 5m spot spacing
400 m altitude; 160 knots
20% overlap
200 % coverage MLW & MHW
4-bit digital photos 1 per second

New Coastal Lidar system under development in USA

Source:http://shoals.sam.usace.army.mil/CZMIL.aspx