Real-time LIDAR from ScanEagle UAV

As the regulations pertaining to beyond line of sight and higher flight altitudes relax, medium-size fixed-wing UAVs such as the ScanEagle® will see a growing market for large area coverage. The information required by users of these platforms will include high-resolution 2D imagery, hyperspectral imagery, and 3D imagery. In many cases, timeliness of data will be critical. Such scenarios could include disaster response, fire monitoring, mission planning, rail line and pipe line monitoring, and general ISR. Ball Aerospace has recently repackaged their TotalSight Flash LIDAR system for operation on the Insitu ScanEagle. This system provides near real-time color 3D georegistered information to the flight operator. In addition, all data is stored on board and is accessible by single or multiple ground users via the ScanEagle Wave Relay data link, allowing the user to see all areas collected and to pull specific 3D data as needed - much like how one uses Google Earth. This paper describes the LIDAR Assembly for ScanEagle (LASE), its operation, and the collected 3D LIDAR imagery.