Modern LiDAR relies on laser sensors that are deployed from the air or via handheld units. As lasers shine on the area to be mapped, they emit brief pulses of light. The amount of time it takes for those pulses to reflect back to the instrument is measured, and each measurement is plotted using GPS. Computers then use that data to construct a 3-D map of the area….
The technology was invented for military use, but was first applied widely by meteorologists intent on studying clouds. The first LiDAR prototype was built in 1961 by Hughes Aircraft Company, which had built the first laser a year earlier. One of the earliest beneficiaries of LiDAR was the United States’ space program; the technology was used to map the moon during the 1971 Apollo 15 mission. Today, LiDAR is more down to earth, and is used to find archaeological clues both on the surface and in the water….
Remote sensing has been credited with an “archaeology revolution” that is shifting the way researchers think about their work. In the early 2010s, archaeologists looking for evidence of hard-to-find Maya sites were astonished when LiDAR revealed a lost Maya city….
LiDAR doesn’t just reveal what is hidden: It can also document what has already been found. The technology is being used on the ground to map structures like the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and Florence, Italy’s Salone dei Cinquecento.
For another post on LiDAR and historical research, see here.
h/t Explorator
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