LIDAR OR IMAGERY – WHICH TO CHOOSE?

Over the past few years there has been extensive innovation in Geospatial technologies that can be used in revolutionary new ways in order to accurately and efficiently map and assess transportation assets. Significant investments in R&D and the race amongst auto manufacturers towards making connected and autonomous vehicles a reality has been instrumental in facilitating a rapid evolution of how spatial data is collected, processed and turned into usable intelligent transportation asset information. 

There are a number of sensors and information systems that transportation asset managers can
leverage in order to manage their assets. Amongst this plethora of technologies, both LiDAR and Imaging provide some of the most important and accurate foundational mapping information regarding the assets and features in the transportation sector.

Advanced sensor technologies in combination with artificial intelligence, machine learning and integrated information systems provide significant opportunities for improvements and efficiencies in the collection of data as it relates to transportation asset management.

This presentation will discuss some of the differences between LiDAR and Imaging, some of the different systems that are being used to collect these different types of spatial data and how transportation asset information is accurately and effectively extracted and derived from each type of data that these respective technologies produce.

The presentation will provide a high level overview of the technical differences between the two technologies and data they produce along with some insight on the fundamental differences in how asset data is then produced.

With this insight, transportation asset managers will have deeper understanding of which technology should be chosen for a particular application or in different settings. Ultimately the transportation asset manager will come away with more perspective on how and where these technologies fit within the overall full asset management life cycle and how to effectively leverage these technologies within their asset portfolios.

As part of a comprehensive discussion, price and cost must also be included. Insight will be provided for why quotes can vary significantly from one vendor to another for the same scope of work. From this, transportation asset managers will be equipped with more insight and understanding of what the drivers are for pricing of these services.

The presentation at the conference will provide a concise overview along with thought provoking visual aids. The transportation asset manager will leave the presentation with a clear understanding of the principles and concepts discussed in this paper.