0 or 1 credit
Summer 2026 Laboratory Upper Division
This class is the third sequential course (of four) within the Digital Data Acquisition Camp, a 3 week-long intensive, in-person program. This class will cover the basic principles of deriving 3D information from LiDAR systems with special attention to acquired point clouds by LiDAR systems onboard UAS over forest environments. The concepts of laser ranging, LiDAR georeferencing, point cloud generation, data structuring, point cloud processing/visualization, and qualitative/quantitative evaluation of derived products will be explained. Theoretical aspects will be emphasized through the analysis of derived products from images of forest stand acquired during both leaf-on and leaf-off conditions. Permission from the Department is required.
Learning Outcomes1Describe the principles of deriving 3D information from LiDAR systems.
2Demonstrate LiDAR system calibration and describe its impact on derived point clouds.
3Explain the concept of LiDAR georeferencing using navigation units onboard UAS.
4Describe and apply the principles of LiDAR point cloud data processing.
5Design a mission plan for a UAV-LiDAR system and process acquired data for forest inventory.
Prerequisites
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.